Questions: It's Not What you Think
by danswritergirl
Summary: A look at what happens when a sixteen year old Danny Mangan starts asking questions. It's not an alternate universe, and I didn't make mistakes - stick with it and you'll figure it all out. Contains strong emotional content and character's death.
1. His Question

Daniel Mangan awoke to the sights and sounds of a sterile hospital room. It seemed that only a moment had passed since he had dozed off in the middle of a sentence, his hand being gently covered over with a larger one; a rough, calloused and freckled hand. But, the morning light streaming in through the window indicated that more than a mere moment had, indeed, passed. And Daniel was now alone.

Yet, he did not feel alone.

He had been told the truth about his relation to Bill Regan. He had been loved through the hurt and gently brought through the shock to the other side. To the place where security waited for him. He was not afraid. He knew who he really was now and how much he was cherished.

But, he still had many questions.

His thoughts were interrupted by a motherly, middle-aged nurse who quietly slipped into the room and smiled brightly at the teenage boy in the bed. "Good Morning, Mr. Regan," she said warmly. "Are you feeling up to some breakfast?"

Daniel smiled at the mistake in the name, but he did not feel the need to correct her. Regan was his mother's last name. His uncle's name. He really didn't mind being called this, because in his heart he knew he was both a Regan and a Mangan. "Yes, thank you. Breakfast sounds like a great idea." He wanted to be polite to those who had been taking such good care of him. As he pulled himself up in the bed, he was immediately surprised at how dizzy he felt.

"Take it nice and easy, " the older woman said as she quickly set the tray on a bedside table and stepped closely enough to steady the boy if needed. "You lost an awful lot of blood, and you will be weak for some time, now."

"I guess I thought the blood transfusion would take care of everything," Daniel's voice was soft and a bit shaky.

"Certainly." The nurse responded comfortingly. She did not want the boy to lose heart. He had seemed so relaxed when she first entered the room. She gave a dismissive wave of her hand and busied herself with pulling the bedside table tray over Daniel's legs, all the while opening his apple juice for him. "The transfusion was a complete success and you will be up and running around in – " She stopped short, remembering why he was there, and she stumbled over her words while giving a quick glance down at the boy's leg. "I- I – mean – not – _running_ – but – "

Daniel chuckled softly at the kind woman's discomfort. He was sure she must know how close he had come to losing the lower portion of his left leg. Knowing that he was no longer in danger of this tragic possibility, as well as knowing he had a lot of support from family and friends to help him one day recover the use of his leg, Daniel was feeling more comfortable about his current situation. "It's okay. Really," he said to the nurse. "The whole leg thing doesn't bother me too much."

"You are a very brave young man." She replied smiling. She moved closer and tilted her head quizzically. "If you don't mind my asking, dear, how did you – um – you know – get caught in that awful trap, anyway?"

Daniel swallowed the scrambled eggs he was chewing and tried to smile. "I help patrol a game preserve every day after school. I'm usually very careful about watching for poacher's traps, but this time, I was chasing after my horse. He got spooked by a snake in the path and tried to run off; and, well, I guess I was watching him instead of where I was stepping."

Daniel was suddenly too nervous to tell her any more about the incident. She did not need to know about him lying in the forest for three hours and praying for his life as the steel trap around his lower leg caused him to slowly bleed out. He did not want the fear he had felt to resurface and make this nice lady change her opinion of him. She had called him brave. If she had seen him there, thrashing around on the ground and begging God to spare him, she might not have thought him to be so strong. Daniel began to remember how embarrassed he was when Mart and Bobby Belden had discovered him there. His tear stained face was caked with mud and he was clawing the ground desperately like a madman.

The helpful nurse sensed the change in his demeanor and gently patted his shoulder as she checked the I.V. drip by his bed. "I'm sure it was quite a terrifying experience. I could understand if you never wanted to go out in the woods ever again."

"_I_ couldn't!" A male voice responded from the doorway. It was Capelton Belden. From the way he was dressed, it would be obvious to anyone that Cap was an outdoors man. His shoulder-length brown hair had a leather band braided into a strand of it, and his leather jacket sported fringe on the sleeves. He stepped into the room with a broad smile and winked at the dark haired youth in the bed.

"Cap!" Daniel was surprised and happy to see him. "I thought you guys weren't going to be able to get on a flight until tomorrow." He felt relieved that the "Idaho Beldens" had made their way to Sleepyside.

"You know, that whole buddy pass thing is a real pain, but when you tell them it's kind of a medical emergency, they do what they can to get you in the air." Cap started to pull something out of his jacket pocket, but stopped when he glanced up at the nurse.

The older woman, seemingly pleased with Daniel's progress in relation to both his health and his appetite, expertly recognized the need for her departure. She began moving away from the bedside and towards the door.

"Looks like you are still working on that tray, so you just go ahead and take your time, Daniel." She said warmly. "I'll be back with some more pain medicine a little later on."

"Thank you so much, Ms. – uh"

"Just call me Gladys, dear. I'll be here all day, and you can push that call button any time you need me." Her kindness made Daniel's heart momentarily ache and he wished he had his own mother by his side. Gladys stepped out with a nod to Cap and a smile to Daniel as he thanked her again.

Cap sat down in the chair beside the bed and pulled out the item he had brought for Daniel. "I had a really hard time sneaking this one by my sister," he laughed and placed a package of beef jerky on the breakfast tray in front of Daniel. "She would find something wrong with it, I'm sure. But, hey, I know for a fact that the meat Tank and I used to cure in his cold room had tons more salt than this stuff."

Daniel's heart flipped at the thought of Cap's sister flashing her blackberry colored eyes angrily toward her brother. She'd take on anyone for Daniel, and it made him smile to consider how much she could love him. He had an urgent need to have her near, but he wasn't about to start more trouble between the two siblings by asking for her now.

"Is this where the bionic man lives?" A voice called from the door. Martin Belden stepped into the room with a smile bravely painted on his face. Daniel could see worry in the blue eyes, and noticed that the blond hesitated before moving closer. "You know, Daniel, with all the pins in rods in your leg, you might consider avoiding metal detectors for a while." The joke was classic Mart, but the language did not contain the customary elevated vocabulary or the confident sarcasm by which he was known.

Thinking about the last time he saw Mart, Daniel knew exactly why he wasn't acting like himself, now. His own mouth went dry as he wondered what Mart must have been feeling when he and his younger brother had found him, bloody and wild with pain. It must have been horrifying to have to send the obviously shocked Bobby for help, to have to find a way to pry open the trap, to use his own shirt to wrap what was left of Daniel's mutilated leg, and to have to carry him out of the woods toward help. He was Daniel's hero, but today he looked scared. And then, another thought occurred to Daniel: _Is this scene all too familiar for him? A different time; a different friend lying in a hospital bed. _Daniel wanted to do anything he could to make Mart feel better.

"Oh, I'm sure all this titanium wouldn't get me stopped at the airport," he said while tapping his leg jokingly. "But that beef jerky might!" He pointed to Cap's contraband on the tray and Mart relaxed enough to join in the teasing.

"Uh oh! Is that some of your own doing, Cap?" Mart came forward and clapped his cousin's shoulder with one hand while reaching around and shaking Cap's hand warmly with the other. "The last batch you sent me gave me so much heartburn…..yeah, you might set off some alarms with that package; I'd be careful."

As all three of them considered this, their laughter eased away tensions and fears. Cap, who did not always appear to be as brilliant as his cousin Mart, was still smart enough to pick up on the rapidly shifting moods in the room and somehow knew that Mart needed to be alone with Daniel.

"Well, it's store-bought jerky, " he said rising to his feet, "but it's still pretty good. Hide it from Hallie so she won't holler at me and say I'm trying to mess up your blood pressure with sodium and red meat. She's such a hippie with all her vegetable talk!"

"Thanks, Cap… I.."

"Later" Cap was out of the room before Dan could finish his sentiment. He wasn't much for emotional chit chat. Daniel was grateful.

"So, you feeling pretty strong, now?" Mart had taken over Cap's previous position, and seemed a bit more relaxed.

"I'm getting there." Daniel reassured him. "So much has happened in such a short amount of time that I…I guess I'm a bit off balance…you know… in more than just the physical way… do..do you know what I mean?" He didn't mean to sound so uncertain. But it all made Mart feel even more at ease.

"Sure, Daniel. I think maybe we'd all be a bit more worried about you if you didn't feel confused right now. But, if there's anything I can do, just let me know."

"You saved my life. I couldn't dare ask for anything more than that." Daniel gave him an appreciative look. Yet, he couldn't stop himself from wanting some information he knew Mart could give him. He wondered if it was asking too much under the circumstances. He wondered what Regan would say if he knew what Daniel was about to do.

"Mart, there _is_ something I want to ask you, actually." Daniel said tentatively.

"Shoot."

"Um…I know you were close to him and..I … I mean" _Maybe this is not the time or place to bring up the past._ Daniel's thoughts caused him to falter. He took a deep breath.

"Mart, I'm kind of glad Uncle Cap left us because… I mean…could you… will you please tell me about my father?


	2. Her Question

"I thought you were going in to see Daniel." The voice of the young girl beside him made Bill Regan step back and away from the door to Daniel's hospital room.

"Mart's in with him, now." Regan said. "Let's give them a minute." He tore himself away from his worry, forced himself to give a weak smile, and then pulled on the teen girl's arm gently to lead her to the small waiting area just beyond the nurse's station. They sat together quietly for a long moment before the large, red headed man reached over and patted her hand. "Everything okay upstairs?"

"Oh, you know how Granddaddy is," the girl replied rolling her eyes. "He doesn't want anyone messing with him, but Mom says his pressure's too high for him to just walk away, and he's fussing because he didn't want to stay last night, and they won't clear him to leave, and he says this isn't what he signed up for when he agreed to give blood for Daniel yesterday…." The girl sighed and let out a small laugh.

Regan couldn't help but laugh also. The thought of Mr. Belden giving the nurses upstairs a hard time was confirmation that the man was actually just fine. He studied the face of the young person in front of him. She tucked a strand of long, black hair behind her ear and then turned up her blackberry eyes to his. He felt his chest tighten when she began chewing her lip nervously and gave another sigh. It was déjà vu. It took him back …

"_Regan, do you think Dan will be alright?_ " _Hallie looked into his eyes searchingly as she sank down beside him in the waiting room. The others had fallen asleep around them, and Regan was surprised to see that she had outlasted them all._

"_This surgery has such a high success rate…and…Dr. Rembret seemed so confident that I…honestly, Hallie… I…I'm… scared to death." He had not intended to break down so hard, or to grasp her so closely, but her mutual need for comfort trumped his embarrassment. He was grateful that the others did not see them trembling together and sobbing into one another._

"Hello…are you even listening to me?" The soft voice pulled Regan from his thoughts.

"I am so sorry, what did you say?" Regan turned to the girl feeling his cheeks grow warm with a rising blush.

"Uncle Peter said that he was bringing you back some coffee, but I told him you would rather have some hot chocolate. Was that right?" The insecurity in her voice was not at all in keeping with her usually confident personality. It bothered him to see her doubt herself in any way.

"Yes, thank you, that is exactly what I need right now." He tried to let her know how much he appreciated her at that moment by reaching over and squeezing her hand. She looked as if she was about to say something, but bit back her words and then quickly hopped up off her seat to pace in front of an end table. She pretended to thumb through the periodicals scattered there.

"I…I wish I brought a book. These magazines are all out of date and so boring."

Regan knew he had to do something, say something, to fix this growing awkwardness between them. He knew why it was there. But, try as he might, he did not know how to say what needed to be said. She wasn't a child, but she wasn't an adult either. This wasn't going to be easy. He stepped behind her and carefully touched her shoulder as he began to speak.

"I know that a lot of information has been given to you and your brothers to process in the past two days, and I can guess that you probably feel like I betrayed you a bit when… " She cut him off by whirling around and suddenly pushing herself into his arms. He couldn't say anything more when he felt her choking on her sobs and trying not to cry.

"Can you…just tell me…one thing?" She asked in a timid voice.

"Anything." Regan breathed into her hair. He meant it.

"Were you already in love with Mom back before…before…Cousin Dan died?"


	3. The Ultimate Question

Bill Regan looked down at his fourteen year old daughter in his arms and staggered a bit at the question she had just asked him. It wasn't at all what he had anticipated.

" Fiona, sweetie, I honestly don't know how to answer that."

"Daddy, please. I want to know."

Will and Daniel had asked him all the obvious questions; ones that Regan had expected and had spent years preparing answers for. But, Fiona was different. Well, of course, she was a girl, so Regan should have known that she, unlike her brothers, would have to drag relationships into the whole conversation. He just never thought she would ask this. Considering her striking resemblance to her mother, as well as the difficult memories her presence had just dredged up in her father, Regan thought he should take a step back and reflect on his daughter's likeness before summoning up an answer for her. _Could it be true?_ He asked himself silently. _Could I have been falling in love the entire time I was falling apart?_ He couldn't bring himself to even contemplate it, much less admit it.

"Darling, your mother wasn't much older than you at the time, and I was in my late twenties. I think it wasn't until years later that our feelings for each other changed. Even if she had not loved someone else, it would have been very inappropriate for me to have any kind of feelings for her like that, and I…I was…we were…too worried about Dan at the time to…"

He did not understand why this mattered to her. Shouldn't she be concerned about just learning how her mother had once harbored romantic feelings for another man? Why should she care _when_ her parents fell in love as long as they were still in love? He expected her to feel betrayed because they had kept these secrets from their children, but it almost seemed as if Fiona was afraid that they had betrayed Dan. Or was that already his own personal fear? Regan pulled her close to him again.

"Are you thinking what we did was wrong?" He asked her with a tight voice.


	4. Answers Begin

Mart Belden had been completely blown away by his cousin's question. He had to ask if he had heard it correctly before he could even begin to imagine how to answer it. Surely, it must have occurred to him that Regan would explain to Daniel who his real father was, especially after so many blood tests were being given in their family to find a matching donor; however, Mart was still surprised when Daniel came out and openly admitted that he knew Bill Regan was technically his great uncle, and not his father. Mart was speechless.

"I guess now I understand why Mom always made such a big deal about me using Mangan as my last name, being named for him and all." Daniel said it quietly to fill the noiseless void while Mart pondered his answer.

"Daniel," Mart began "I…your father…I mean…um…" He suddenly had a thought that needed to be voiced. "Did your folks explain _how_ this all happened…I mean, Dan was already … gone… when your mom...you know…got pregnant"

"Sounds like science fiction, huh?" The dark haired boy said quietly. "Yes, I think I understand how it all worked. Dad, I mean, Regan even told me _why_ they chose to have Will first. I'm sort of a living tribute to their love for Dan, but I belong with them, so they put me in the middle; Um… I guess it was so I wouldn't feel like the outsider."

"Do you feel like the outsider?"

"No." Daniel thought about this for a minute. "I feel…blessed."

"Wow," Mart said fighting tears. "You are Dan's son. That is probably something he would have said."

"No kidding! Maybe I know more about him than I thought."

_Out in the Waiting Room:_

Fiona Regan thought about her parents' choices. She knew that they had fallen in love and chosen to marry. She knew that they planned the births of each of their children with great care and love. She now knew that her brother, Daniel, was not her father's son. She had been told why they had chosen to allow her mother to carry another man's child. A dead man's child. She had been told that this truth did not change their love for their children. She knew that it didn't. But did it change how she felt about them?

Did she think what her parents did was wrong? This is what her father had just asked her.

"Daddy," Fiona said looking up at her father, "I want to believe that everything is right and good in our family. I have never had a reason to think that it wasn't. I just want to know where everyone stands. It's not Daniel's place in our family that I really question. I mean, my brother, of course…not, the other Dan…Oh this is so confusing!"

"Do you ever wonder where _you_ stand?" Bill Regan asked his daughter. She had pulled away from him and flopped back into a waiting room chair. He followed her and slowly sat beside her.

"I guess I'm pretty confident in my place," she admitted, "but I'm not sure if I like this other Dan having such a big part in our lives when…when I've never even met him. Maybe, I want to know where _you_ stand." She allowed her father to put a large, freckled arm around her as she leaned her head over to rest on his broad chest.

"I stand _with_ you and _for_ you, my love. For Danny, Will, and your mother, too. I stand for the memory of my nephew who fought so hard to live that I had to let a part of him be born from my wife so that he could, indeed, live on. I stand by my wife who loved him, too. "

"You were never…jealous?" Fiona asked

"Guilty, yes…jealous…never." Regan surprised himself with this honest answer. He really meant it. Fiona seemed surprised as well.

"Guilty? Why?"

"He suffered, Fiona. He watched his mother go through it, and then he faced cancer, too. It was horrible. They say people 'battle' cancer, and they are right. It is a battle. He struggled just to get to another day. He stayed so positive and was never selfish about anything. He never complained…he wanted a future…he wanted to be with your mother…he wanted to have children…" Regan couldn't speak anymore. The silent tears pouring down his face caused his daughter to sit up off his chest and look at him. He took her face in his hands and forced himself to say it. "Look at what I have." He kissed her forehead and pulled her to him again. "How could I not feel guilty?"

"Oh Daddy, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Fiona hugged her father. She was beginning to understand.

_In Daniel's Room:_

"No way!" Daniel Mangan laughed at Martin Belden's story. "Mom and Cousin Trixie _did_ that?" His sides ached from having spent the last hour laughing and crying while Mart told him about his father's adventures in The Bobwhites of the Glen. Some were stories he had already heard, but many of them were now more focused on Dan senior than those he had been told in the past.

"You had no idea your mother could be so funny, huh?" Mart jibed

"Whew, I guess not." Daniel sighed. "I am surprised she hasn't come in this morning to check on me. Dad was here last night and then…" He stopped. "Is it wrong for me to feel weird when I call him that? I mean, he's not my biological father, but he'll always be my _dad_."

"Would you ever feel comfortable calling him Bill or Regan to his face?" Mart asked gently. "I don't even feel right about calling him Bill."

"No!" Daniel protested and then laughed.

"Then I guess you'll have to stick with calling him 'Dad'." Mart said. "I'm just happy that we don't have to keep the secret from you anymore. As you and Will and Fiona got old enough to really understand, I felt so bad that you didn't know. How did Will take it?"

"Will is just like Brian. You can't be sure what he's thinking sometimes, because he's so quiet. He seemed worried that I might be upset about it, and he told me a hundred times that it didn't change anything between us. I almost wondered if he had already figured it out or had been told beforehand, because he was so calm. I was shocked and confused, but he was calm. Everything he said was about making sure I was okay with it. I guess he always tries to look out for me like that, you know? "

"Oh yes, that's like our Brian alright." Mart smiled to himself. "_Dr_. Belden should be stopping by later, if he finishes his rounds. Honestly, this morning he enjoyed a splendiferous raucous at the expense of Uncle Harold; basically, he gave him an efficacious reprimanding for being so fastidious when the nurses on his floor were dutifully tending his impediments."

"Now, that's like our Mart, alright." Dan laughed. "What did you just say?"

"Brian scolded your grandfather this morning for not cooperating with the nurses."

Daniel's face sobered at this news. "Granddaddy's still here?" His eyes showed the concern he was feeling.

"Don't worry; they kept him overnight because his pressure was higher than they wanted it to be. It should have been lower after they took blood, but it wasn't. You know how he is. It was most likely something he did to himself by getting angry or yelling at someone." But Mart could see that the boy still felt guilty.

"That's why Mom hasn't come in, yet." Daniel whispered to himself. He needed her. He had settled his insecurities with Regan last night. Now, he wanted to do the same with his mother.

"I'll go get her, if you want me to." Mart offered. He could see the wheels turning in Daniel's head just like he always could in his father's. Daniel needed to talk to Hallie and tell her that he was okay. Not just physically, but emotionally, too. He was glad about what she had done and he needed to tell her so. Mart really needed to go so he could finally break down and cry without his best friend's son seeing it. This was all too familiar and all too painful for him to stay; to see his friend in this boy's face; hear his voice; remember his death. He moved quickly to make an exti. "I'm on my way to get her now."

Daniel's voice stopped him at the door. "Mart?"

"Yes?"

"I know my parents are proud of me…but…would _he_ be proud of me, too?"

Mart had almost made it out without losing it, but Daniel's question broke the dam.

"Oh yes, son," Mart sobbed, "He _is_…I _know_ he is."

_Later that afternoon..._

Hallie Regan looked at her sixteen year old son sleeping in the hospital bed and tried to force herself to breathe. _Oh God, help me. I don't want to remember what this is like. _Her thoughts took her back to another time when her nineteen year old boyfriend lay dying. He was so pale. His arms were nothing but bruises from the I.V. lines. His breath was ragged and desperate. Hallie remembered the moment he slipped away from them. _STOP! _Her mind screamed at her.

She did not want to remember.

She moved quietly to her son's side. His eyelids fluttered, as if he sensed her presence, and he moaned softly. "Shhh…" She comforted him. "Everything's alright."

"Mom? How's Granddaddy?" he asked her. His voice was groggy as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Right now, he's on his way to our house to get some rest, baby." Hallie whispered. "They released him a little while ago. Just making sure his blood pressure's okay. Nothing to worry about."

"I can't believe he was the only match out of all of our family." Dan said with a smile.

"Well, except for Nick, but he was too young and didn't weigh enough."

"What? I didn't know that! He was a match?" Dan felt sad about not being told that Brian and Honey's youngest son Nick could have been a blood donor for him. Did Nick know? The two cousins were close, and it probably would have meant a lot to them both if Nick had been allowed to do it.

"Danny, you needed a lot of blood. Nick just could not have done it. He's two years younger than you are, sweetie."

"I guess so." Dan felt frustrated by this, but quickly brushed it aside when he remembered what he wanted to tell his mother. "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad that you married Dad and that you both chose to have me. I…I…think you are the bravest person I've ever met."

Hallie swallowed hard and reached for her son's hands. "No, baby. Not brave." Her words were choked and she had to stop to collect herself as tears slid down her cheeks. "Just desperate with love."


	5. There's a reason for everything

**Disclaimer: The characters in this story are obviously not my own. (Sorry I did not specify this in the first chapter). Hope everyone is curious to discover the "science fiction" behind Daniel's birth… stay tuned for that ;-) - By the way, thank you so much for the reviews – I was encouraged greatly to continue!**

Dr. Brian Belden smiled softly to himself as he pulled a thin hospital blanket over his cousin Hallie. She had fallen asleep in the bedside chair, her hands gently cupped around one belonging to her sleeping son. The tired doctor had been trying all day to stop in and see Daniel, but his duties had kept him elsewhere in the hospital. Now, finally where he thought he belonged, Brian oddly began to feel out of place. He did not want to wake either of them, so he turned with a sigh and began his retreat. Bill Regan met him at the door with a welcoming grin.

"Hey Doc," he said with a weak chuckle. "They finally let you have a break around here?"

"One of the few and rare, actually." Brian was glad to see Hallie's husband coming in. Perhaps, he would encourage her to go home and rest for a bit. Then, he noticed how exhausted Regan looked, himself. He wondered how he could help them. He soon got his answer.

"Have a minute for a trip to the cafeteria with me?" Regan asked quietly. "I think I should let those two enjoy some peace and quiet." He bobbed his auburn head towards his loved ones with a tender gaze.

"Oh, sure, I was about to grab a cup of coffee, myself."

The two men walked in silence for a little while before Brian spoke.

"Where are Fiona and Will?"

"They went with Cap and Sue to get Harold settled at our place. I know your staff upstairs was incredibly happy to see my father-in-law discharged today."

"Uh Oh, Uncle Harold gave 'em a rough time, huh?"

"You might say that. I think he gets more and more…what's the word…colorful …as he ages." Regan smirked and shook his head with a good natured laugh. "I love him, though. He's a good man. But, how he could actually be brothers with Peter Belden is beyond me."

"I'm sure people say that about Mart and me." It was Brian's turn to laugh. "Come to think of it, I know a lot of other brothers in our family like that; Cap and Knut, Daniel and Will…and of course, my two boys… Matt and Nick. Yes sir, polar opposites!" It made Brian feel warm to say "our family." He had always looked up to Regan and was proud to have him as a cousin by marriage.

After making their selections and checking out at the register, the two seated themselves in a booth against the far wall. Their tall frames were oddly stuffed in and around the table, but it seemed a far better place to talk than at a round table out in the middle of the room.

Brian sensed that Regan had something he wanted to say. It was clear from the hastily chosen fruit cup and the scary black cup of coffee on the older man's tray that he had not come there to eat. Again, Brian felt lucky to be the one Regan could confide in. The shy man loved to help people; he wouldn't be much of a doctor if he didn't. But, his quiet spirit did not make him especially close to many people, and he knew that Regan could also be a guarded soul. He waited patiently to let his companion start the conversation.

"Brian, I really appreciate all you've done for us through this whole ordeal… I mean…a lot has happened in the last few days, and you've been here the whole time."

"Oh it's no problem at all. It wasn't much, but I was glad that I knew enough around here to make that transfusion happen a lot quicker. The paperwork alone can be a nightmare unless you know what you are doing. I think I might be able to get you a head start on getting him into the rehabilitation center, too. I know one of the physical therapists who might be working with Daniel. You know…when he gets to that point."

"He wouldn't even have that as an option if Mart and Bobby hadn't found him when they did." Regan gave a shaky sigh and forced himself to take a sip of the dark, wet substance in his cup. He made a face at the taste and both men laughed.

"You get used to it," Brian said holding up his own cup of hospital brew and drinking it in.

They were silent for a moment longer as Regan continued the struggle to suppress emotions that his last statement had brought to the surface. He was realizing just how grateful he was to Brian and his brothers.

"I…can't thank you all enough." He whispered.

"We were happy to help. Daniel means a great deal to all of us. Bobby was not about to let it go when Daniel didn't meet him back at the cabin, and Mart wasn't going to let Bob go out there at dusk alone." Brian suddenly saw the shadow fall across Regan's face, and he knew what this was really all about.

"I should have been there." Regan's choked out. He hid the breakdown under another forced swallowing of the hated drink (Regan usually didn't even like good coffee – and this was definitely _not_ good coffee). The cup trembled in his hand.

"You can't be everywhere. Mr. Wheeler needed you at Manor House. Regan, this isn't your fault." He drew the older man into his gaze to make the next important point. _"There's a reason for everything."_

Bill Regan understood what he was talking about, and it wasn't his absence when Daniel's leg was being crushed in a poacher's trap. He had not been there at the hospital the moment Dan had passed away. Brian, Hallie, and Trixe were the only ones in the room. It was something he had never forgiven himself for. He had gone home to shower and change, and he had not been gone long before Dan had taken a rapid turn for the worse. By the time he could respond to Trixie's panicked voice mail and get back to the hospital, Dan was gone.

"Bill…" Regan's eyes shot up at Brian's use of his first name. None of the Bobwhites _ever_ called him by his first name. It got his attention, as Brian had hoped. "Believe me, I know how terrifyingly familiar all of this has been for you. I still have a hard time going anywhere near that wing of the hospital, and I come here every day. I…I know it's tough. I do." He swallowed hard and thought carefully how to say what must be said. "You were there when he needed you. You must believe that he never woke up after you left. You wouldn't have been able to…to …say anything…I mean…he didn't know anything at that point. Hallie was so…she wouldn't want you to have seen how badly she lost it…"

"She told me later that she barely slept for two years after… just kept reliving that moment in every dream." Regan interjected quietly.

"And you couldn't have brought her through that if you had lived that moment, too."

_There's a reason for everything. _

Regan thought about what Brian was trying to tell him.

"You're right. She's always been the strong one. And, too, I guess, I might not have gotten around to telling Daniel the truth about himself if all of this…with his leg and all… hadn't happened, too."

_There's a reason for everything._

"And there might have never even been a Daniel if we had not known early enough that Dan was sick." Brian added.

_There's a reason for everything._

"Oh yes, I remember that shock well enough. I may still have the letter somewhere…"

Brian's mind immediately flew back to the afternoon when Dan first received the letter Regan was referring to. Everyone had been so excited and couldn't wait for him to open it. Little did they know…

**Coming up next…fun with flashbacks ;-) – Tell me what you think.**


	6. Flashback: Dan's sick Brian's POV

"Dan! Look at what was in the mail!" Honey Wheeler yelled to her friend. The golden haired teen almost dropped the rest of the items she had pulled from the Manor House mailbox in her enthusiasm over one particular envelope. The Bobwhites of the Glen had just finished a summer lunch on the veranda and were headed out to go horseback riding when Honey had thought to check the mail.

"Could this be it? It's from the police academy!" Honey said, excitedly thrusting the envelope at Dan Mangan. Dan had applied for the academy and completed the first round of physical exams and testing weeks ago, even before his graduation from high school, but he had not heard anything from the academy in response. The waiting had been mind numbing. Although he didn't live at Manor House with Honey, her parents, and her adopted brother Jim Frayne, it was quite normal for Dan's mail to be delivered there. Dan and Mr. Maypenny, the gamekeeper he lived with, lived in a cabin on the Wheeler estate, and his uncle Bill Regan lived in an apartment over the stables; thus, everyone had the same address. There were no secrets among them as far as mail was concerned, that was for sure. And Honey seemed just as excited about the letter as Dan did.

As far as Honey's boyfriend, Brian Belden, could tell, _everyone_ was excited. He was usually a very calm person who never raised his voice, but at this moment, he could not resist the temptation to shout. "Whoo Hoo! Open it!" he encouraged loudly.

"Methinks the outer flesh vessel of my elder sibling has been temporarily transposed with that of another carbon-based life form," Brian's brother Martin Belden replied, as he stared in a surprised state at the older boy's uncharacteristic outburst. "Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?"

"This moment is too good for you to ruin with your silly dictionary talk, Mart; hush up and let Dan open the letter!" Trixie, the only female of the four Belden siblings quickly silenced her "almost twin" with a playful slap. Brian couldn't help but chuckle at the familiar banter or marvel at the almost giddy feeling everyone was experiencing at the moment. They were all caught up in it, because they knew that getting into the academy meant so much to Dan. A former gang member on the streets of New York, Dan had overcome incredible odds to get to this point.

"I…I'm nervous," Dan said hesitantly, "What if I didn't get in?"

"So, you try again." Jim said matter-of-factly. "Isn't that what you told me when I applied to college last year?" His simple encouragement seemed to settle Dan's nerves a bit.

"Wait!" Di Lynch shouted quickly. "You've gotta do this in front of Regan!"

"Oh, of course!" Dan gestured for them all to follow him as he took off for the Wheeler's livery.

The short trip to the stables only served to increase everyone's anticipation. Brian silently began to pray that their wait would not lead up to an anticlimax. _What if he didn't get in? Are we going to make it worse by being so antsy?_ He began to worry. As the oldest and most responsible of the group, that was his place. He was the silent worrier who took care of everyone. It was good practice for what he wanted to be in life: a doctor.

Bill Regan was the Wheeler's groom and Dan's uncle. He was hanging tack in the barn when the high energy crowd of young people began filing in. "Ah," he cried at the sight of them, "Mr. Wheeler said you were coming down to help me exercise the horses this afternoon. I'm glad you're here."

"First, I want to show you something, Uncle Bill." Dan held the letter up and then shook it with a silly grin on his face. "Guess who this is from!"

"The academy?" Regan dropped the bridle in his hand and moved toward Dan with wide eyes. Dan's nod gave him his answer, and Regan quickly stepped forward to lovingly punch his nephew on the arm. "You did it! I knew you could!"

"Woah, I haven't opened it yet." Dan cautioned him. "I might not have actually gotten in."

"Aw, don't say that. Just OPEN IT!"

The room was still and quiet as Dan slipped a finger under the edge of the envelope flap and sliced it open. Brian could feel the tension rising. He watched as Dan unfolded the single sheet of paper he pulled from the paper shell. He followed as Dan's eyes scan the page. He noticed a quick flash of surprise and suddenly the color drained from the boy's complexion. _Is he going to pass out?_ Brian thought. He stepped forward toward Dan, just in case, but Dan stepped aside slowly, silently passing the letter to Regan, and gave a limp smile to everyone.

"Well, _that_ was certainly not what I expected to read." He laughed nervously and ran his hand through his hair.

"Dan…we're all sorry if you didn't get…" Mart stopped and hung his head, "sorry, man."

Brian watched as Regan's response in reading the letter was similar to Dan's. "I don't understand…" He almost whispered. The following moment of silence was deafening and then he exploded. "NO! This …this is not possible!" Regan pushed the letter at Brian who, like the others, didn't know what to say or do. "Look at this, Brian." Regan's voice sounded strained. "Now, there could be a lot of different reasons why someone would have elevated levels of certain blood cells, right? I mean, I know it sometimes points to drug use, but I don't think that's what they are trying to lead us to believe here, I mean, am I right? It could be….it could be a lot of things"

"Oh no, Regan, we know Dan would _never_ do drugs!" Honey cried out in defense. "That's crazy! They have to let him take the test again! This is all a mistake."

"No, Honey," Jim said quietly. He put his arm around her. "I don't think they are accusing Dan of taking drugs."

Brian read the letter and suddenly felt nauseous. He knew what the drug test results meant. He had not even made it to medical school yet, but he knew enough about certain medical issues to know what was happening, and he wished he didn't. He caught Jim's eye and knew that he and his best friend were thinking the same thing. Dan's mother had died of Hodgkin Lymphoma: cancer. Dan could have…

"Mart!" Di shrieked

Mart had suddenly passed out.


	7. Shouldn't he be afraid?

**Disclaimer: Characters are still not mine.**

**Note: This is still in Brian's flashback POV of the day Dan's illness was brought to light… To review, Dan had opened his letter, realized he didn't get into the academy, and Mart had passed out…**

"Way to go, you goof," Dan chided a dizzy Mart, "I'm the one with the defective blood, and you go trying to outdo me by cracking your noggin on the ground. The things people do for attention." He was working very hard to keep the mood light, but it only seemed to increase the uneasiness among the group gathered around.

Brian was helping his brother to sit down carefully on the couch in Regan's office, and Di was returning with a cup of cold water. "Here, drink this." Brian commanded, taking the water from Di and passing it to Mart. He could tell that the shock of what had just happened had not yet worn off of the pretty, raven haired girl; her hands were trembling as she passed the cup. He patted her arm gently. "Thanks, Di."

"I'm sorry," Mart mumbled into his sipping. "I didn't mean to pass out…I guess I …" He couldn't look up at anyone. The embarrassment and fear were too much. Brian understood. Dan was like family, and Mart was scared for him.

Dan sat on the couch beside Mart and poked him jokingly in the side. "Everything's all good, man." He bit his lip as he looked over at his best friend. "You probably just fainted because you couldn't believe I'd passed all the _other_ tests. How crazy is that? To pass everything but the blood test... I know I'm no Rhodes Scholar, but I would have expected to get _that_ one right."

"Danny…" Honey said softly. "Please don't joke. This is serious."

Brian immediately caught the quiver in her voice and his heart began to feel tight. The pounding in his chest had just begun to subside from its frenzy at having witnessed his brother unconscious on the ground, but hearing the emotion in his girlfriend's voice was now fueling the adrenaline once again.

Trixie, of course, true to her nature, had to step in and solve the problem. The ever optimist. She couldn't stand this anxiety.

"Hey, it's just like Regan said. There could be a lot of different reasons why Dan's blood cell counts are off. Sure, they've recommended him for more testing, but just because he has to go see an oncologist does _not_ automatically mean he has cancer. I mean, that's just a type of blood doctor, right?"

She turned to Brian for confirmation, and he nodded.

"See there, it could be as simple as some sort of infection or…or like…mono or something like that. I mean, cancer is not hereditary. Just because someone else in your family had it…"

She knew what everyone was thinking. What everyone feared. Dan had once told them that this was how it had all started when his mom was diagnosed with the cancer that later took her life; a simple blood test…something not right in the numbers…more tests needed…

Regan, who had been pacing around the room, suddenly leaned both hands on his desk and bowed his head in a sort of wilted fashion. It was as if Trixie's speech in favor of his thoughts had brought the futile nature of them to his own understanding. He was about to speak when the voice of the Wheeler's housekeeper, Mrs. Trask, called out from the entrance to the barn.

"Bill?

Bill?

Are you still here?"

In a moment, the kindly woman was peering in the door of Regan's office and giving a warm smile to them all.

"Oh, here you are! I need to get a package out to Mr. Maypenny. Do you think you could drop it off when you take the Bobwhites riding?"

Her smile faded as she noted the pallid looks on the faces in front of her. "Oh my," she gasped, "What's happened?"

No one spoke at first. _What do we say?_ Brian thought to himself frantically. Mart flashed a look around the room indicating that he did _not_ want anyone to tell her about his blackout. All eyes turned to Regan.

"Mrs. Trask, Dan got a response from the police academy today." Regan paused long enough for the older woman to understand that it had not been an acceptance letter, as everyone had hoped.

She seemed to catch on.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Dan. Will they let you apply again?" The woman crossed the room, took Dan's hands in hers, and smiled sympathetically at the teen. Brian suddenly felt his heart lurch at the way Dan was giving her a "_hey, don't worry about it"_ sort of look. Shouldn't he be scared?

"I'm sure they will," Dan replied good-naturedly. Mrs. Trask pulled him into a quick hug and softly patted his cheek before she let him go.

"Don't give up." She encouraged him.

Regan felt the need to explain why Dan's application was denied. (Forever after, Brian would remember the thick sound of concern coating Bill Regan's words. He labored to get them out, as if he was fighting to keep them locked away from the world's ears.)

"He…he made great marks on all of his evaluations and completed his physical trials in good time…but the results of the blood test, you know, …they do blood tests checking for drugs and…um…the results showed…er… abnormally high white blood cell counts…and…well, until a doctor clears him and says it's okay…they can't let him in…"

Brian could tell that Mrs. Trask's mind had jumped ahead to the same conclusion as everyone else, but she quickly forced up her chin and turned to comfort Regan. Patting his back, she did her best to keep everyone thinking positively.

"Well, then, if a doctor's clearance is what Dan needs, then you just need to make an appointment and get this all straightened out. I'm sure it's nothing more than a simple infection. Why, if you let Mr. Wheeler help you make all the necessary contacts, I'm sure Dan could be medically cleared in time for the next application period."

"Money can't buy him a clean bill of health," Regan mumbled under his breath. Brian was a bit startled at the statement and wondered if it hurt Regan's pride to consider accepting Matthew Wheeler's help.

"Maybe not," Jim cut in, defending his father "but it could help buy access to the best doctors who could help us figure out what's wrong."

Sensing the growing tension, Dan quickly stepped in the middle of Regan, Jim, and Mrs. Trask. Brian could see that all Dan wanted was for everyone to stop worrying about this.

"Hey, there may not even _be_ anything wrong with me." Dan said comfortingly. "I mean, physically, that is; there must be something wrong with my head if I keep hanging out with such worrywarts." He gave a small laugh. "Come on, let's not get freaked out until a doctor says I have something worth freaking out about. Where's the package you want us to deliver to Mr. Maypenny, Mrs. Trask? I thought we were all going for a ride."

Everyone began murmuring agreements and busying themselves with the preparations for the ride. Mrs. Trask left and quickly returned again with the package for Mr. Maypenny.

"Mart, are you sure you feel up to this?" Brian asked his brother. "You should probably go home and rest."

"I want to come along." Mart said.

The older Belden brother knew he wouldn't be able to talk Mart out of going, so he dropped the issue and vowed to keep an eye on him, just in case. As the ride started, everyone was beginning to relax and chat with one another. Brian started to think that, perhaps, Dan's situation might not be so serious. He thought about other possibilities beyond cancer, and allowed himself to grow more comfortable.

Nearing a wider section of the wooded path between Manor House and Maypenny's cabin, the young people easily began to ride in tandem. Dan maneuvered his horse beside Brian and caught his eye.

"Brian," He said seriously in a low voice, "Don't tell Bobby anything about this, okay?"

Brian felt the intensity of Dan's stare as he spoke. He knew that Dan and his youngest brother had a very special friendship, and obviously, he did not want the little boy to be afraid. Dan was Bobby's hero, having actually once saved his life. In that very heavy moment, Brian realized that Dan was already aware of the danger he was in, and was going to do everything in his power to protect those around him.

"Sure, Dan. I won't say anything." Brian managed. _Such strength!_ He marveled at Dan's selflessness.

"Make sure Trix and Mart don't spill it to Bobby, either. I think maybe I should be the one to tell him. You know, after it's confirmed and all."

"Don't talk like that. You don't know what this is yet." Brian was beginning to feel more and more uneasy about Dan's suddenly calm and determined demeanor. Again, he asked himself, _Shouldn't he be afraid?_ They rode in silence for a distance, all the while falling back a bit behind the others, before Dan finally spoke up again.

"I had been thinking that this…knot…I was noticing was just, I don't know…a bunched up groin muscle or something."

_No!_ Brian's mind screamed, _I don't want to hear this!_

"I thought it was just a pulled muscle that wouldn't heal."

_Shut up! Stop talking about this!_ Brian stared straight ahead and made no indications that he had heard Dan.

"If it's a lump, they'll want to remove the whole lymph node, huh?"

_Shut up, shut up, shut up!_

"I wonder how funny I would look with no hair…"

"Dan! Stop it!" Brian hissed through clenched teeth. "I…can't…hear this…"

Without realizing they were doing it, both boys immediately stopped their horses on the path and stared at one another. Brian panted wildly trying to calm himself, and Dan swallowed hard before speaking.

"Brian, calm down…I'm not afraid…"

What Dan said next would thereafter help Brian deal with every lost patient, every announcement of a difficult diagnosis, every gut wrenching pain he would ever experience…it was why he knew what to say to Regan that night in the hospital cafeteria…

Dan looked Brian calmly in the eyes and said,

"_There's a reason for everything."_

_**Note: We are going to get back into "present day" in the next chapter, and if you read it, you might just find out why this is a Trixie Belden story with very little Trixie in it – **_

_**Where is Trixie, you might ask? Stay tuned to find out. (And yes, there will be happy stuff!)**_

_**Thanks for all the amazing support on this story – I actually have much, much more of it to share, but I'm trimming it and trying to make the parts where Hallie and Regan finally get together worth the wait. **_


	8. We look after each other

"Okay, I'm sorry, but that is truly a lousy reason." Trixie Frayne shook her head at her husband and narrowed her blue eyes at him. She was going for a stern look, but the stereotypical way she put her hands on her hips and patted her foot was too comical for Jim to take seriously. He tried to stifle his laughter while pretending to ignore the petite blonde and switched the television station with the remote.

"I mean it, James Winthrop Frayne!" Trixie said with a playful stomp of her foot. "Having twelve additional channels is not a good reason for choosing to forego a night on the town with your wife!"

"But they have the Japanese infomercial channel!" Jim protested, laughing sarcastically. He gave his wife a loving smirk and pointed at the television in the hotel's entertainment center positioned across the room from where he was lounging on the bed. "Everyone loves a good infomercial."

Trixie gave up trying to act angry and pushed her way onto the bed beside him. She made a big production out of forcing him to scoot over, while he tried to retaliate by leaning over and kissing her neck. Jim knew that kissing his wife there could sometimes make her forget just about anything.

"Maybe I really have another reason for not wanting to go out sight- seeing…" Jim murmured into Trixie's skin, "As in…there are enough sights in here that I don't always get to see when we are at home. You know…you…me…nice hotel room…no kids tonight. Do you really want to go look at a bunch of tourist traps?" He continued his kissing upward until their lips met. Trixie was glad he knew her so well. Time alone with him was really what she wanted most. It was getting late, and she had only suggested going out to try and take her mind off of Hallie and everything going on back at home in Sleepyside. But, this was better. Jim was definitely about to take her mind off things.

Suddenly, Trixie's cell phone rang.

Jim gave Trixie a quick kiss on the forehead and patiently went back to his television viewing; he knew who was calling, and he didn't mind being interrupted with some news that might help them sleep better tonight.

Trixie scrambled off the bed and dug the ringing phone from her purse.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Trix." It was Hallie. "I'm in the car and leaving the hospital now."

"Okay, good. I'm glad you're going to go and get some rest. How is he?" Trixie was encouraged that Hallie sounded so calm.

"He's much stronger today. The doctor is really encouraged about his leg, and he seems to have changed his mind about Daniel never being able to bare full weight on it again. He's going to recommend him for physical therapy and see if the hardware in there will hold up."

"Hallie, you make it sound like your son's a cyborg now, or something." Trixie teased. "Sheesh, what did you let them do to him?" It felt good to Trixie to be able to joke about everything today. It had been no laughing matter two days before. As Hallie responded, Trixie could hear the warm mirth in her cousin's voice, and it made her exceptionally grateful.

"Mart's been calling him the bionic man, too. It's such a miracle what some titanium can do to help shape and hold leg bones that are practically shattered. Hey, I don't care what kind of spare parts they put in him, as long as he's alive and can get around a bit. I saw those x-rays, and I know what that doctor was up against in that surgery. So what if he limps or needs a cane? We can live with that."

Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. _Everything is going to be fine! _

She had been feeling horribly guilty about not being there for Hallie. True, she could not help the fact that she was on a flight to San Antonio when Daniel had been injured, but she had wondered if she should not have flown back to New York when she learned of the incident. Now, Hallie was making her feel better about being away.

"So, how was Katie's graduation today?" Hallie asked enthusiastically. "It was, after all, the whole reason why you two flew out there."

"Oh, you know how Katie is. She has to be the star of the show. I'll bet I took a thousand photos…"

"Five hundred and forty two, to be exact!" Jim interjected in the background.

"Don't listen to him, Hallie, it couldn't possibly have been that many. But if it had been, that would still not have been enough for Katie. She poses in her sleep, I think. Heaven help us when she moves back home in a few weeks and loses her audience. There must have been fifty boys swarming around her, watching her every move. She's something, alright, and being here on her own for the last two years has made her worse!

Trixie loved to tease her oldest daughter about her prissy and dramatic little ways. She certainly didn't get them from her mother. It was all harmless, she knew, and despite how her family teased her, Katie was not completely self-centered. The tall, strawberry blonde was a striking beauty who loved attention, but she was no airhead, and she was clearly no tramp, either.

"I'm sure her father can take care of her 'audience'." Hallie giggled. "Remember how he chased off the last boy who was giving Katie attention she didn't like?"

It was Trixie's turn to giggle. "Oh yes, that was a good one." She recalled how her husband had offered to help an unwanted suitor become acquainted with one of the dried up wells located in the nature preserve. _No one would ever find you_, he had snarled.

The two women shared another laugh together. _This feels like old times_. Trixie thought to herself.

"Well, I know you need to get home, and I don't want you to have to use your long distance minutes …OH!...How's Uncle Harold? I almost forgot?" Trixie felt guilty again.

"Hmmph!" Hallie replied. "Don't worry about him. I'm sure he's too mean to stay down for long."

"Hallie!" Trixie admonished with a laugh.

"Oh, come on, you know I'm kidding. Dad is just Dad. He's like vinegar; he gets _bitter_ with age."

Trixie had to agree that her uncle had increasingly become more difficult to get along with since his wife passed away. Everyone loved him too much to really let it bother them, though.

"Unlike Aunt Helen, " Hallie continued, "who is certainly more like a finely aged wine. She is so smooth and goes well with anything. Honestly, Trix, if it had not been for your mother, I don't think I could have made it through either the operation or the transfusion. She really saved me."

"And Brian, too! Tell her how much Brian helped us…" Trixie heard a man's voice come from beside her cousin.

"Wait, is that Regan in the car with you? I thought he would be staying with Daniel." Trixie interrupted.

"Cap and Sue flew in this morning, and Cap insisted that he stay with him tonight. I thought he'd be too exhausted, but he claims he slept on the plane and took another nap when they helped bring Dad home this afternoon. Daniel's fine to stay alone, now, really. Cap's just being sweet – **for once**."

The two women laughed together again, and Trixie knew Halllie's joy was sincere. _She's fine. Thank God! _

"Yeah, I talked to Honey earlier, and she told me that Brian had helped you get the transfusion paperwork pushed through. They are life savers, the both of them. I can't leave Emily with just anyone, and it is such a relief when they keep her for us, such as now."

Trixie thought of her youngest daughter and suddenly longed to see her. The Fraynes had first met the little autistic Emily when she had come to live at the children's home they run, along with Ten Acres Academy. It had not taken Jim and Trixie long to become attached to her. Despite her difficult social disorder, they adopted her with open arms. Honey and Brian's daughter Maddie was Emily's fast friend; so, Trixie felt especially comfortable allowing the ten year old to stay with her brother's family while they were at Katie's college graduation.

"I just hope nobody has said anything about Daniel that would frighten Emmie," Hallie said suddenly, as if the thought had just occurred to her. "She is his little shadow, sometimes. Would she get scared about what happened?"

"Hmmm, it's hard to say what will trigger a meltdown with her." Trixie had not thought about it before, but Emily did look up to Daniel in much the same fashion as her younger brother Bobby had always followed after Dan all those years ago.

Hallie continued thinking aloud, " I'm sure Matt and Nick have been talking about it around Emmie and Maddie, I mean, the whole campus of Ten Acres Academy has been on fire with rumors. Fiona says that some of the other kids are saying Daniel has already had a leg amputated – or that he's getting a cadaver bone implanted in his leg – or that he's paralyzed from the waist down. Jim might want to call his counselors at the school tomorrow and have them prepare something to share with all the students. Not just to stop the lies or just for Emily's sake, but I'm sure there might be some other kids a bit afraid, now. The school _is_ within walking distance of the preserve, you know."

"Oh Hallie, you're right." Trixie said quickly. "I'll talk to Jim about it. He had an emergency alert messaging system installed for the campus last year, and we could use it to get the word out. But don't worry; I'm sure that if Emmie was scared, Honey would have told me when I talked to her earlier."

"All the same, I'll stop by tomorrow and check on her. Daniel wouldn't want her to worry." Trixie was humbled at Hallie's kindness. _We Beldens take care of each other._ She had once told her. She was right. Even though both women now had different last names, they would always be Beldens at heart, and they would always take care of each other.

That's when Trixie began to think about what Hallie had just said; about Daniel not wanting Emily to worry about him. It caused her to remember the day Dan told Bobby that he had cancer…

**Yes, more fun with flashbacks coming up ;-) How did Dan break the news to Bobby?**


	9. Divine directions and Bobby's questions

**Disclaimer: These characters (except for Matthias Price) don't belong to me (wish they did). Enjoy this flashback in Trixie's POV – please let me know what you think.**

Sometimes, there are places which hold significant meaning in our lives.

It could be a family vacation spot, a favorite restaurant, or even a particular park bench. For seventeen year old Trixie Belden and her younger brother Bobby, there was one place in the Wheeler's game preserve that would always be special. What others saw as a dark and potentially dangerous cavern, Trixie and Bobby saw as a place of miracles. It was where their friend Dan Mangan had saved them from a mountain lion on a cold winter's day. In Bobby's mind, it was the doorway to adventure; a place where little shoemaking elves and fantastical creatures dwelled. In Trixie's mind, it was like a cosmic adoption agency where Dan had somehow been permanently grafted into the Belden family as an honorary member. For Dan, it was a place of redemption and second chances at a time when he desperately needed to prove himself; to become the kind of person his parents had hoped he would be, despite having been temporarily seduced into the street life of a gang.

On this particular day, Trixie knew it was the place where Dan was going to tell Bobby that he had recently been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He had made plans with Trixie to have her bring Bobby to the cave for a picnic, and then he would meet them there to explain everything to the boy, himself. Trixie and Bobby had not been on the trail long before Bobby was already asking questions.

"Trix, I'm glad we're going on a picnic and all, but why do we have to _walk_?" Bobby sighed as if he had been walking for hours. "If we'd met Dan at the stables, Regan would've let us take some of the horses out. I _can_ ride a horse by myself now, you know." His blonde curly hair bounced across his forehead as he dramatically shook his head at his sister.

Trixie looked at her nine-year old brother and considered what to say. She _knew_ why they couldn't meet Dan at the stables and ride out to the cave, but she couldn't tell Bobby the reason. One of the lumps the doctors had found in Dan's lymph nodes was located in his groin area; it had just become too painful for the teen to sit in a saddle. _He'll find out soon enough_. Trixie thought to herself. _I better keep things light for now._

"Aw, come on Bobby." She grabbed a leaf from an overhead tree and tossed it playfully at her brother. "You're the one who always likes to get out in nature and chase bugs - classify the phylum of trees – dig worms – that kind of stuff. It'll be a fun hike! Don't be lazy."

Bobby fell silent again, and Trixie thought about how her little brother might take Dan's news. The youngest Belden was extremely close to Dan. Would he be afraid? She knew that Bobby was no longer the baby-faced six year old who fell into a hole in the cavern floor three years before. As a gifted student about to go into the fourth grade at Sleepyside Elementary, her brother had grown into an extremely perceptive and quick-witted little boy – much like their brother Mart. But Trixie knew that Bobby was also an emotional person who loved deeply and worried a lot about other people – very much like their oldest brother Brian. She thought it wise of Dan to wait and explain everything to Bobby one-on-one, rather than let a bunch of grownups drop the bomb on him casually. As the two Belden children finally neared the clearing before the cave, Dan saw them approaching and gave a friendly wave.

"There you are. I was worried that you weren't coming. Mr. Maypenny sent us some of his famous venison burgers!" Dan patted his basket while rubbing his stomach. "Did Moms send some of those brownies I love so much?"

"You know it." Trixie laughed, giving her own basket a quick bump on the bottom. "And little cups of ice cream to go with them. That means we have to start with dessert so that they won't be completely melted!"

"Works for me!" Dan laughed .

The three friends sat in the mouth of the cave, enjoying the cool shade's contrast from the hot summer air outside, and stuffed themselves with the special treats from their baskets.

"Mmmmm. Tell Mr. M that these 'Bambi' burgers are the best!" Bobby raved with his mouth full. Trixie gave him a disapproving glance as he rolled his eyes and opened his mouth wider to give his sister an even more disgusting view. _Mart taught him that, _Trixie thought. She was repulsed.

"They're not as good as his hunter's stew, mind you, but they're by far the best burgers I've ever eaten; cow or deer." Dan's tone of voice made it clear that he was proud of his guardian's culinary skills, despite the fact that the whole town probably saw Mr. Maypenny as some grumpy, grizzled old hermit. Trixie, herself, had once been under that impression, but she now knew that wasn't the case. _I wonder what he thinks of Dan being sick. _Trixie's mind was wandering again.

Once the picnic lunch was cleaned up and everyone was feeling satisfied, Dan pulled out a small leather bag from his pocket and held it up.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked mysteriously. He crossed to where Bobby was sitting and dropped down to sit beside him before holding the bag out to the boy.

Bobby opened the drawstring at the top of the pouch and dumped its contents into the palm of his other hand. "It's a compass, right?" He turned it over and over, admiring the strange numbers on the shiny object. "Looks old."

"It is." Dan said proudly. "I got it at an antique store in New York City last time I was there. I was really drawn to it, because I thought it looked kind of like one a pirate might have used. I was excited when I found out that it had a much happier history. See that cross etched in the back panel? Look at the initials underneath it. This compass belonged to a missionary named Matthias Price who spent his entire adult life spreading Christianity to Native Americans in the wild west. The funny thing is, he never used it! That's why it's in such great condition. See, he kept a journal that the antique dealer sold to me along with the compass. In the journal, Matthias wrote that God was his compass, and that He always told him where to go."

"So, why did he keep the compass all those years, if he never planned to use it?" Bobby asked.

"Because it served as a daily reminder that he didn't _need_ it." Dan said. "Mathias believed that no matter how accurately an earthly device, such as a compass, can measure one's current position or help calculate a future destination, God alone really knows where a man_ is_ or where he's _going_. " Trixie could see the emotion building in Dan's eyes as he spoke. She understood the depth of what he was saying, but she did not think Bobby was old enough to even fathom a bit of it.

Bobby started to hand the compass back to Dan, but the older boy shook his head. A strand of black hair fell momentarily over his forehead and Dan swiped it away with one hand while pushing the compass back toward Bobby with the other. "I want you to have it," Dan said quietly. "I'm going to teach you how to do some neat things with it."

"Wow, thanks!" Bobby was mesmerized by the gift.

Dan moved away from his friend quickly, before his emotions got the better of him, and Trixie suddenly felt a trembling in her stomach. She wished he would just go ahead and get this over with.

"Bobby, if you were using the compass to find a place, and you got there with no problem, would you trust it to get you somewhere else?" Dan asked while walking away from the Belden siblings sitting on the cavern floor.

"Sure." Bobby said slowly. He was beginning to sense that something was up and he searched his sister's face for the answer. Trixie turned her eyes toward Dan's back so she wouldn't give anything away. She felt like such a coward. Her heart began to beat loudly in her ears.

"You wouldn't question it? The compass, I mean. Even if you looked around and thought you might be headed in the wrong direction? You wouldn't doubt what it said?"

"I…I guess not. Especially if it had always been right."

"And you trust me, right?" Dan questioned. He had stopped moving and was pretending to inspect some glittering veins of fool's gold embedded in the wall of the cave. He still did not turn to face them.

"Of course," Bobby said quickly. "I mean, you did save my life and everything" He chuckled and seemed to want the mood to lighten up, but his face fell a bit when no one else laughed with him. Trixie silently pleaded in her head for Dan to hurry up with his point!

"Bobby," Dan turned and moved back toward the others, "I may not know what's going to happen in the future, but I know someone who does. God has never steered me wrong in the past, and if I can trust a compass to be reliable, then I can certainly trust Him. Even when it seems that I'm going in the wrong direction." He knelt down in front of Bobby but did not meet his eyes. He was about to begin speaking again when Bobby interrupted him.

"Wait. I know what this is…" He was trying to sound casual. "You're leaving us, aren't you? You're…you're going away to college, since you didn't get into the police academy."

"Who told you Dan didn't get into the academy?" Trixie asked suddenly.

"Mart. He didn't say why, though." Bobby turned toward Dan and tried again to make everyone stop taking everything too seriously. "Dan, don't be so dramatic. I know you can't promise me that you'll come back to live here after college, but I trust you and I know that you wouldn't just up and leave and…and never ever come back to visit. Is that what you are trying to tell me? You don't want me to be sad if you go away to school and never live in Sleepyside again?"

Neither Trixie nor Dan had ever even considered that Bobby would misunderstand what they were trying to tell him, and Dan suddenly appeared to not know what to say. He rubbed his temples nervously and continued to stare at the ground in front of the younger boy.

"Bobby…" He started softly.

"It's okay." Bobby interrupted again. "Really. I know you'll visit us either way. Besides, you love our mom's cooking too much." The way he laughed at his own joke only made the uneasiness in Trixie's heart continue to grow. _What do we do, now?_ She was starting to panic.

"I'm not moving away from Sleepyside." Dan said gently. Bobby saw the emotion in Dan's eyes when he finally lifted them to meet his own, and the little boy's smile quickly disappeared. He knew something was wrong.

"Is…is there something wrong with Mr. Maypenny? Is he sick or something?"

"No, it's not Mr. Maypenny."

"Regan?"

"No, not Regan."

"You aren't…you know…going to jail or anything like that are you?" Bobby asked uncomfortably. He knew that Dan, as a gang member in New York, had actually been arrested and sent to a juvenile detention facility just before he moved to Sleepyside.

"You haven't done anything wrong, have you?"

"No, no, no, I didn't do anything wrong. I'm not going…back…to…jail." Dan seemed to be losing heart as Bobby was obviously growing more and more anxious. Trixie swallowed back tears that were threatening to surface.

"So, what's the deal?" Bobby suddenly jumped up and held the compass high as he lifted his hands in question. He was angry. That was not the reaction Trixie had expected.

"You give me this compass that I'm supposed to _trust_ but I'm not supposed to _need,_ and you tell me that it might seem that you're going the wrong way sometimes, but it's okay because God has it all figured out, and…and…man, you two are acting all weird…and…I don't get it! What's going on?"

"Bobby, calm down," Trixie whispered.

"NO! What's going on? Why are you guys acting like something really bad is about to happen?"

Dan stood and slowly walked closer to Bobby.

"Not bad, just scary," He said simply.

"What? Did you join the military? Are you going to war or something?"

Dan smiled at that and seemed to draw strength from the idea. "Well, actually it will be sort of like a battle. But, no, I didn't join the military. Maybe I should consider signing up, though, if all of this turns out okay. I will, after all, most likely come out of it with a much shorter haircut." Dan was trying a more humorous approach, yet Trixie didn't think Bobby would get the joke.

She was wrong.

The moment Dan's words brought understanding to Bobby's brain, it was as if an atomic explosion had occurred in his eyes. A flash of white appeared under extremely raised eyelids, immediately followed by a cloud of terror.

"You're sick?" It was nothing more than a whisper.

"I have the same thing my mom had…"

"NO!" Bobby dropped the compass and ran as fast as he could away from the cave.

**Sorry, if it was disappointing and only raised more questions, but stay tuned. The whole compass thing will be VERY important later on. **

**Want to know what present-day Bobby is thinking?**


	10. Did you find it?

**Present Day **

"Oh, there you are, Bobby!" Martin Belden gave a sigh of relief when he saw his brother standing at a counter on the far wall of the greenhouse. "I've been looking for you."

Bobby Belden didn't turn from his work, but continued examining the leaves of the plant in front of him, stopping sporadically to write information down on a clipboard perched upon the countertop.

"You obviously weren't looking too hard. I've been here pretty much all day." Bobby's voice was light and Mart felt encouraged.

"You weren't here this morning when I stopped by on my way to the hospital. Boy, you owe me, big time, too! I couldn't convince your beautiful bride that Di had, in fact, already given me a wonderful breakfast, so I had to choke down some of those _mutant_-grain muffins you guys make around here. I love Bella, and she can sure make one mean cup of coffee, but those poisonous pastries have _got_ to go!"

The two men laughed heartily.

"Aw, Mart, I always thought you would eat just about anything! The only reason you hate our food is because it's healthy." Bobby turned to face the older man and Mart began to laugh once again as he looked down and took in his brother's attire.

"Uh, Bob…did you let Angelica pick your clothes, today?"

Angelica was Bobby and Isabella's four year old daughter. Much like her father when he was her age, the little girl's face was as cherubic as her name; she had chubby little cheeks with golden curls shining in a halo around her head. However, her behavior was as brilliantly eccentric as her artistic mother. The little preschooler was known to compile the oddest array of colors and accessories in every outfit.

Bobby looked down at his clothes and shrugged. "What?" He said, trying to sound innocent; his grin told Mart that he clearly knew how ridiculous he looked. He simply didn't care.

From the waist up, the young man appeared to have just come from an office. His navy, long- sleeved shirt was neat and pressed, despite being covered over with a green gardening apron and haphazardly rolled up to the elbows. An unwound tie hung loosely on either side of his button down collar. But, from the waist down, he was dressed more appropriately for a Jimmy Buffet concert. He wore a faded pair of beach- themed cargo shorts with tattered hems, and his feet (still in navy dress socks, mind you) were sporting leather Birkenstocks.

"I was called in to sub for one of the science teachers over at Ten Acres this morning. I guess I was in too much of a hurry to get back to my cross-pollination study that I didn't finish changing clothes."

Bobby waved the air dismissively as if his explanation was all the information Mart had ever needed in life, and he moved back to his work area.

_That's Bob, _Mart thought to himself, _not much of a fashion bug or a conversationalist._

Mart crossed to a workstation at the other end of the long room and stooped to assess the insects and plants being housed there inside small, glass enclosures. "Are we still on schedule for the work on optimal foraging versus optimal oviposition in the spinach leafminer fly? I want to have some data ready for my next meeting with the folks from NYU."

"Well, we might actually want to request some more time on that project. The preliminary information I put together had the females' behaviors in favor of optimal oviposition, but now that the larvae are doing their own thing, I'm not so sure."

"Are you rotating the possible host choices to increase random foraging options?" Mart suggested.

Bobby nodded his head, abandoned his current position to pick up a notebook in front of Mart, and then passed the reports to his sibling/research partner. He crossed his arms over his chest as Mart read through the recent findings; Mart could sense that Bobby was becoming increasingly aggravated with him for checking up on his work.

Certainly, the two of them had made some remarkable progress together in the fields of agricultural and horticultural sciences, but it was sometimes very difficult to find a balance between their personal relationship and their professional one. Mart usually took the lead, not only because he was nearly ten years older, owned three lucrative farms, and held a doctorate over Bobby's specialist degree, but because he was often more comfortable being the front man. Bobby preferred to do the hands-on work behind the scenes, especially since he also had duties as Matthew Wheeler's gamekeeper. Still, there were times when Bobby seemed to resent Mart's leadership.

Mart suddenly felt that he needed to clear the air and assure his brother that he saw him as an equal on this project.

"This is excellent." He stated in a neutral tone. He didn't want to overdo it. "I'm sure the grant committee won't mind giving us an extension when they see this. I'll get busy on the proposal and make the necessary changes to the original grant I wrote." Mart felt Bobby's frustration melt into pride, and he knew that another argument had been avoided.

Bobby started to return to what he had been doing on the other side of the greenhouse, but he stopped and turned back around, suddenly appearing nervous.

"How…uh… how was Daniel doing today? Feeling better?"

"Oh, yes. He looked much stronger."

"Did he…say anything about what Regan told him? He seemed to understand it, right?"

"Seemed to. He asked me a lot of questions about Dan. What he was like. If I thought he was anything like him." _Good!_ Mart thought. _He's talking! This is good! This is what we need._

But Bobby didn't take the bait. He just went back to his work.

Mart was about to try again when the greenhouse door burst open and a whirlwind of pink glitter and golden curls came bouncing in excitedly.

"Uncle Marty! Uncle Marty! Will you come read me a bedtime story?" Angelica cried out, hopping into Mart's waiting arms.

"Oh no," Isabella Belden said, breathlessly catching up to her daughter and leaning heavily on one of the potter's shelves at the entrance of the steel and glass building, "I have already read you two stories, and you aren't going to stall bedtime one moment longer! You came out here because you wanted to give your daddy a 'night night' kiss. Come on. Let's go."

Mart and the little girl exchanged quick hugs and kisses before he settled her down to see her father. "Angelly Belly," Mart teased her with his favorite nickname, "it's getting late. You should be in bed."

She gave Mart a smile over her shoulder and just waved her hand in the air in the same way Bobby had done earlier; Mart had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"What's so funny?" Isabella asked Mart, while they watched Angelica kiss Bobby goodnight and wiggle noses with him.

"Nothing. It's just that they are two peas in a pod."

"Tell me about it." Isabella laughed. "Alright, Angelica, that's enough. Let's go back to the cabin."

"G'night, 'Bella and Belly." Mart said waving. He loved to tease the women in Bobby's life.

He began to think that he needed to be getting home to Di and their teenaged twins, but he just couldn't make himself leave until he could decipher how Bobby was really handling everything. There hadn't yet been any quality time available to discuss what they had seen when they'd found Daniel in the woods two days before. It was a pretty traumatic event.

Mart was about to try to steer Bobby into another conversation about it when his younger brother spoke up first.

"You said you were looking for me, earlier. Let me guess. After seeing Daniel, you ate lunch, went to the cave, met your family for dinner, somehow wound up at the cemetery, and only just now thought to come here." _What is that in his voice_, Mart wondered _is that bitterness?_

"Well, you're not one hundred percent correct; in between going to the cave and having dinner, I also had a quick teleconference with that interesting farmer's coalition – you know, the one wanting additional research on those blight bands we – anyway, yeah…I guess you know me pretty well. Smarty pants!" Mart was trying to get a chuckle out of him, at least.

But Bobby didn't laugh.

"Yes, and I guess you weren't totally off about me either, since I did actually go to the cave after I left Ten Acres." Bobby turned to face Mart once again and leaned back against the counter space. "You must have just missed me."

The two men stood in silence for a minute.

"But, honestly, Mart, you don't know anything about me if you thought for one minute I'd be there at that cemetery tonight." Bobby spun himself back around and pretended to be engrossed in reading another clipboard chart. Mart was stunned by his brother's sudden hostility.

"What are you talking…."

"Why do you do that?" Bobby suddenly interrupted, leaning both hands on the surface before him and closing his eyes in frustration.

"What? Do what?" Mart was dumbfounded and could not understand what was happening.

"Why do you go there?" Bobby's voice was immediately loud and accusing.

"Where? To…to the cemetery? For the same reason we go to the cave, I guess. To be near him; to talk to him."

"No!" Bobby was trembling now, he was so angry. "That's not why _I_ go to the cave. It's different!"

"Well… why then? I mean… how? Why is it different?" Mart sputtered.

"I don't actually expect him to be there! I mean…I know he's not there, Mart!" Bobby's voice rattled the panes of glass all around them.

"So do I, Bobby. And believe me, I'm glad."

"Oh, he's glad." Bobby mumbled sarcastically while throwing his hands up in the air and twirling himself away from Mart. He angrily strode across the room to a sink and began washing his hands and taking off his apron. He started muttering under his breath as he scrubbed the dirt and grime from his fingernails.

"You stand there and talk to a stone with his name on it and imagine that he hears you, and…and …that is supposed to be comforting? I don't need to go to a place I don't associate with him in order to talk to him. I…I…" He continued to scrub fiercely but could say no more.

"I didn't say I _needed_ to see that headstone in order to be close to him." Mart said softly. He wanted desperately to try and calm Bobby down. He stepped gingerly towards the younger man and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Bobby, I just mean that…the grave…it just…it serves as a daily reminder that I _don't _need it to be close to him."

Bobby immediately faced Mart with a pale face and wide eyes.

"What did you say?" He whispered.

"I mean, that it reminds me that he's not there." Mart couldn't understand why Bobby looked so scared all of a sudden. "Bob? What's wrong?" Bobby was staring past his older brother as if seeing a different time or place. As if remembering something.

As quickly as the mood had surfaced, it was gone again. The shorter man seemed to shake himself of his thoughts and began to make his way toward the exit.

"I think we're both ready to go home for the night. You know how to turn everything off and lock up if you need to stay and do anything." Bobby said in a defeated voice.

"Hey, wait a minute." It was Mart's turn to sound a bit miffed. "Now, just stop for a minute. I want to talk about this." Mart knew this conversation was long overdue. It had been nearly twenty years, and Bobby had _never _really talked about this.

"What's to talk about? You talk to graves, you talk to stones, you talk to the air – you talk, talk, talk. What's the point? He's gone, Mart! Conversation over!"

"Uh, uh! No it's not!" Mart reached out and grabbed Bobby's arm just as he was opening the door to leave. He might not have been as broad shouldered or as physically strong as his younger brother, but Mart's height advantage, coupled with the element of surprise, rendered Bobby's attempts at freeing himself momentarily useless. The older man pulled his brother closer toward him and up against the wall in a rough manner. "Not when you stand there and confess that you believe the person we both loved isn't anywhere at all! He practically growled it in Bobby's ear.

"I have patiently listened to your atheistic, new age, hopeless/helpless crap without ever expecting you to change your thoughts or take my side!" Mart continued. "I know you don't believe in God, and that's something you'll have to live with…and thank God I'm older and will go first, so I won't have to suffer the thought of where _you _might be…but…but…for you to not believe enough in our friend to think in any way that his spirit might continue to exist somewhere…in some way…No! You couldn't possibly have known him and loved him at all if you can't know for sure where he is!"

Bobby just stood there and took it. He didn't know how to react. Mart had him pinned and wasn't about to waste the moment.

"Even if you can't have faith enough to want Heaven for him, can't you at least love him enough to see him in other things? Isn't his presence still somewhere within the walls of that cabin you live in? Don't you hear him chopping wood on a cold winter's day? Don't tell me you don't see him in Daniel…I mean, you should have heard what that boy said to me today… it was almost word for word like that time…"

"SHUT UP!" Bobby pushed Mart away from him.

It was if both men were now emptied of all thoughts, all words. They stood facing each other and panting. Neither spoke for a long time. When Mart had finally collected himself, he ran a hand down his own face, stuffed it in his back pocket, and began rubbing the back of his neck numbly with his other hand.

"You never found it, did you?" He asked Bobby, turning his face away.

"No." It was more of a hypnotized sigh than a word being spoken. "I used the compass, but…I…I couldn't find it…I gave up years ago."

_That's why he can't deal with this!_ Mart thought. _If he'd found it, he'd know; he'd understand. Surely Dan must have known what Bobby needed._

"I'll help you." Mart began.

"No."

"We'll take Daniel with us. He needs it, too."

"It doesn't matter!" Bobby's shout was a hoarse sob in his throat. "Just…just drop it."

"I won't."

"Fine. Do what you want." Bobby sniffed back tears and tried once again to leave.

"Fine, I will." Mart suddenly giggled exhaustedly at the childishness of that last statement.

"Stop it." Bobby said annoyed.

"No, _you_ stop it." Mart whined dramatically. He reached out and playfully shoved Bobby's retreating back.

"Oh – my – are you freaking serious? What is your problem?" Bobby didn't know whether to be angry at Mart's absurd mood change or grateful that the intensity of the previous moment had begun to dissipate.

"We'll make it a date as soon as Daniel gets mobile again." Mart was determined. He patted his brother's chest as he bypassed him in a silly stride and opened the door to leave. "We'll find it. Don't worry." He tipped an imaginary hat at his stupefied sibling and hollered to him as he disappeared into the darkness. "See you tomorrow!"

**Whew! Was that intense enough? Don't panic, we'll see much bluer skies soon. Do you know what the "it" is? Stay tuned to see if Bobby and Daniel ever locate it (as well as what other surprises they will discover as they search). – Please review: I need to know what everyone is thinking ;-)**


	11. It serves as a reminder

_A nine year old Bobby Belden sat cross-legged on the cool, dirt floor of a cavern and allowed his heightened senses to be stimulated in every possible way. He could feel the dank moisture in the outcroppings of rock around him. He could hear the sound of summer creatures twittering and scurrying in the forest beyond. He could see every detail of the compass in his hand, and when he raised his head, he could detect his sister's piercing blue eyes giving him an anxious glance. The compass was solid and smooth, save for a cross lovingly etched on one side. The boy's fingers traced the pattern of the symbol down to a pair of initials in scrolled letters. The opulence of the antique gold casing caught the glint of a small shaft of sunlight, both blinding and exhilarating to look at. _

_ As Bobby studied the treasure in his palm, he was keenly aware of his friend Dan Mangan. The teenager was sitting so closely to the little boy that Bobby could detect the scent of soap on his skin and the presence of pine residue on his clothes. Even in the dim light of the cave, Dan's features were strikingly clear to him. Not just the dark, expressive eyes and the thin, smiling lips, but also the small beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead and the recent growth of short, black stubble on his chin._

_ In the middle of the warmly familiar moment, Bobby could hear himself ask,_

" So, why did he keep the compass all those years, if he never planned to use it?"

_The blonde headed boy could feel the importance of the coming response. He anticipated Dan's words, as if his very life depended upon them. All he wanted was to hear his friend's voice again; so calm; so sure. There was always something smooth and comforting in Dan's voice, even as it was still deepening. He watched in aching desperation as his hero opened his mouth and began to speak, _

"Because, it served as a daily reminder that…"

_Halfway through the haunting statement, Dan's face began to morph into that of Bobby's older brother Mart. It was no longer the face of a smiling eighteen year old boy but that of a middle aged man with crow's feet beside his eyes and graying hair at his temples. To Bobby's growing horror, the last part of Dan's statement had been replaced with Mart's voice and words,_

" …that I _don't _need it to be close to him."

Bobby suddenly bolted upright in his bed, his arm tingled with the distinct feeling that Mart was still gripping it as he had done in the greenhouse earlier that evening. The grown man was gasping and panting for air. His heart was beating wildly in his chest.

"Bobby? Bob? What is it?" His wife was immediately awake and staring at him in the darkness of their bedroom. They were alone. "Bobby, honey, did you stop breathing again? You know your sleep apnea won't get any better until you wear that mask the doctor prescribed… dear? Are you okay?"

Bobby was too emotionally charged to speak right away. He just continued to swallow down his terror and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. When he could form words, the response was breathless and thready.

"It…it was just a dream. It's alright."

Isabella kissed his shoulder softly and began pulling the bedclothes away from her body in preparation to get up. "I'm going to check on Angelica."

"No, no I'll go. I…I need a drink of water, and I'm going to sit up for a minute."

He leaned down and kissed a light brown curl that had strayed across his wife's cheek. Then, he gave her a gentle pat to let her know that he was alright, and he slipped away to make sure he had not awakened their daughter.

Once convinced that Angelica was sleeping soundly, Bobby made his way into the cabin's kitchen area. He poured himself a glass of cool water and his eyes immediately went up to a small box sitting on the ledge over the sink.

It was a plastic recipe card holder in the shape of a loaf of bread. It looked to be at least thirty years old, if not more. Bobby reached up and fingered it thoughtfully. It was one of the first objects he had found in "the hunt." He let Isabella keep her own recipe cards in it, but he had made it clear to her that the box was very special to him. She probably assumed it belonged to Moms, Bobby's mother. But it didn't. Bobby just couldn't bring himself to explain the whole thing to her, so he hid the original cards that were once stowed inside. They were private messages meant just for him. Three hundred and sixty five of them, to be exact.

He took his glass with him to his chair in the den and sat down to try and clear his head. He thought of the significance of the shaped card holder; the bread was supposed to be symbolic of a particular passage from Mark Twain's _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_. The chapter and page number references had been scrawled on the paper enclosed with the box and its cards, but Bobby had really not completely read nor understood the selection from the novel. He had been too busy trying to push on to the next clue. To figure out the next set of numbers that would lead him to more special gifts and messages. It had been a game of welcome distraction.

Now, sitting in his favorite armchair, uneasiness began to settle over him, and he pondered Mart's determination to make sure that he found the last cache. _Does he know where it is? Does he know what's in it?_ It made Bobby a little jealous to think that Dan might have discussed his parting gifts to Bobby with Mart.

But, then he remembered how Mart had reacted with surprise when Bobby first confided in him about "the hunt." He had not intended to actually tell anyone, but he had grown desperate when he couldn't solve one of the riddles; he knew Mart could help him. _No, Bobby decided, Dan didn't tell him anything. This was something he meant just for me._

He suddenly felt warm thinking about the time he'd spent seeking and finding. The first hunt had been so simple that he didn't even need to use the compass to find the coordinates. Bobby knew instinctively that any treasure hunt Dan would create would have to start at the cave, and he'd been right. The tightly wrapped bundle containing the recipe card holder had been cleverly hidden in the hole where Bobby had been trapped as a child. Bobby sighed and began to consider just how huge an undertaking all of that must have been for Dan. _There were so many of them, so carefully planned; he must have started putting it all together as soon as he found out that he…_

Bobby did not want to think about it anymore.

But he couldn't stop himself.

_If I knew I was going to die, what would I leave for my daughter to find after I was gone?_

He swallowed hard. He knew that Mart was right. **They had to help Daniel find the last cache.**

_I had my time with him, _Bobby thought_. Now, it's Daniel's turn._

He vowed not to let his possessiveness and jealousy get in the way of what Dan would have wanted; unlike that day, long before, when he first went looking for the final treasure…

**(Yes, you guessed it – another flashback to this story coming right up) **

**Since interest in this story seems to be waning, I'm most likely about to bring this whole thing to a close and save all my other chapters that deal with the BWG's romances to a completely new story – a sort of sequel, as it may. Does that interest you or shall I let it all go when Daniel's questions are answered? – Tell me what you think!**


	12. You wouldn't question it?

Today was the day! Twelve year old Bobby Belden had been planning this moment for a few weeks. He had his canteen filled, his backpack strapped on, and his compass in hand. He was going to find the last surprise his friend Dan Mangan had left for him before he passed away.

It had been two years since Dan died, but Bobby had only been seeking the caches for about a year. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't bring himself to go on a treasure hunt during the first year of grief. Now, he was getting better at deciphering Dan's figurative language and riddles, and he could determine the coordinates of each site a lot quicker with the compass Dan left for him.

With each package and container located, Bobby was given special messages, personal memories, lines of Biblical scripture, and cherished possessions that helped him cope with the loss of his friend. In some ways, it was as if Dan had never left. The only other person who knew about "the hunt" was Bobby's older brother Mart; it was his own private game.

This particular hunt, however, was going to be bitter sweet. Bobby knew from the information that was in his most recent find that there was only one more package out there. That was it. There would be no more. It had taken Bobby a week to decode some of the messages in the last bundle, and he had to do some research to figure out the starting coordinates. He was prepared.

Or so he thought.

The morning outing began well enough as Bobby went to the front porch of the cabin Dan had shared with the Wheeler's gamekeeper, Mr. Maypenny. This was where he was supposed to start. Bobby was grateful that Mr. Maypenny was out patrolling the preserve and wouldn't be there to ask him what he was doing. He could take his time. Carefully, he faced away from the cabin and began to project a waypoint, as stipulated in the directions.

"Bearing should be 128 degrees," he said to himself. He began walking and tracking the distance as he went, but suddenly, he started to doubt what he was doing.

"If I keep going the distance this says I should go, I'll have to go off my bearing to avoid the lake, and the next projection will be off by several degrees. That can't be right!" He lost track of the distance while he was muttering to himself and realized that he needed to stop, go back, and start over again.

"What if I calculated the initial bearing wrong?" He asked himself. True, he did not spend a great deal of time actually reading the scripture Dan had included in the last set of instructions, but he didn't think he could have possibly misinterpreted the chapter and verse numbers in the references. He had plugged them into his formulas as he had been taught, and he expected them to work out perfectly as they had in the past. It was in the midst of this frustration that Bobby suddenly remembered something Dan had told him on the day he had given him the compass.

"_**You wouldn't question it? The compass, I mean. Even if you looked around and thought you might be headed in the wrong direction? You wouldn't doubt what it said?"**_

"Okay, then. I won't doubt." He promised himself, and he began again. This time, he closed his eyes as he walked and didn't even stop when he heard the splashing of his feet entering the lake.

"This is crazy!" He shouted into the stillness of the forest and only stopped when he felt himself getting in too deep. He drug himself from the water and was about to go back to the cabin again when he heard muffled voices. The sounds had carried over the lake and came to rest in a distorted cloud around the already peevish young boy.

Wet and disconsolate, he decided to give up on his adventure for the day and go discover who else might be out there in the woods.

Bobby knew better than to walk out in the open and approach anyone in the preserve without first verifying that they weren't poachers, so he quietly circled around the area where he thought the voices had originated and then he slipped into the tops of two intertwined poplar trees. Just beyond the area of trees where he was, he could make out the figures of two people moving farther away from him and towards the open meadow leading back towards Crabapple Farm.

One of the figures, he realized, was Bill Regan. He knew from the broad shoulders and bright red hair. Bobby gave a sigh of relief and decided to catch up to the man and his traveling companion.

In Bobby's eyes, Dan's uncle Bill Regan was a very intimidating person, but the boy had always felt drawn to him, just the same. There were a lot of things about the man and his nephew that were alike.

_Should I let Regan in on the hunt?_ Bobby wondered.

He was still mulling it over in his head when he broke free of the tree cover and reached the edge of the open field.

What he saw made him stop short in confusion.

He was surprised to see his cousin Hallie Belden stooping down in the middle of the grassy area before him. _When did she get into town?_ _Why is she out here with Regan? Where's Trixie? _ He wondered.

Hallie looked as if she were tying something that Bobby could not see, while Regan was standing over her with his hands on his hips and a very large smile on his face. He was watching her and laughing in a way that Bobby had never heard before. It was a full bodied laugh. Abandoned. Full of joy.

_This…is …odd…_

Bobby decided to watch them a while longer before making his presence known, so he followed the treeline around the edge of the pasture to where he could get a better view. He sat down on a fallen log and strained his neck to see what Hallie had with her out there on the ground.

She seemed to have finished what she was doing and sprang up to reveal a homemade kite. Regan was laughing again, and Hallie made a big production out of displaying the tail, which was made with long, bright ribbons and aluminum foil.

Regan shook his head at the girl before him, trotted over to where his grazing horse was strolling in the meadow, and lifted from his saddle the proud construction of a Japanese box kite. _I remember when Dan made that!_ Bobby thought excitedly.

The boy had to stifle a giggle as he watched Regan and Hallie compare their aerial works of art and argue over who was going to fly which kite. There wasn't much wind, really, and it seemed like such a futile endeavor for both of them, but the two appeared to be determined to get each of the contraptions up into the air. After watching them fail, succeed, and fail again with many fun-filled attempts, Bobby was about to run out and "save" them from their mistakes.

But something in the way the two were suddenly looking at one another made Bobby too uncomfortable to approach them.

_What are they doing? Are they going to start sharing sad stories about Dan? I gotta get out of here; if they start crying, I'm going to lose it, myself._ Bobby began to panic at the fear of watching Hallie and Regan break down over Dan.

And then something happened that was even worse in Bobby's mind.

They kissed!

Or, at least, they were about to, when Bobby suddenly let out a shriek and charged toward them with a desperate need to stop what was happening. _How dare he? He's too old for her? How dare she? Dan loved her! _His mind reeled at the thought of them betraying his friend this way.

"Bobby!" Hallie cried out in fear.

"Oh my gosh, Bobbie? Are you alright? You're all wet! What happened?" Regan was suddenly terrified and rushed to him, immediately checking the boy for injuries.

"Bobby, are you hurt?" Hallie asked.

Bobby was too angry and confounded to even utter a word. He just stood there panting while the two of them padded him down and worried over him as if they were his parents.

"Hallie, please take me home." Bobby finally whispered.

"Of course." Hallie complied quckly.

That night, as Bobby sat in his room, he bitterly considered the disappointments of the day. He didn't know how to trust beyond his calculations, believe outside his limitations, or see others live up to his expectations. As sorrow, possessiveness, and anger overwhelmed him, he grabbed all the information he had compiled to help him find the last cache and ripped up the pages fiercely until nothing but shreds of confetti remained. Hot tears ran down his face in two long streaks and he choked on his sobs.

_**Now, you know why he never found the last message from Dan. Yes, Bobby's a mess, but don't worry – He'll get a second chance with Daniel. **_

_**By the way, thanks for the encouraging reviews.**_

_**I have worked on this project off and on for a long time, so I have tidbits everywhere to share – I'd like to show more of "the hunt" objects and lessons that Dan left for Bobby, but I fear there won't be time for that – tell me if that interests you. Now, I need to get us focused on the happy couple.**_


	13. If you see him

Present Day:

"Mom?" Daniel woke with a start. He had heard movement beside his hospital bed and was having trouble adjusting his vision to the bright light suddenly streaming down on him from the window nearby.

"It's only me, dear," Nurse Gladys said gently. She noticed the source of Daniel's confusion and immediately abandoned the charts she was reading to cross to the other side of the room and swiftly closed the blinds. "There, now. That should be better for you. Those pain pills must be keeping you knocked out. You missed several visitors this morning."

"Oh, I…I'm sorry," Daniel stammered. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You know, I might have done that, but the parade of family and friends you have going on all the time around here…well…they all said they didn't mind waiting. Besides, if you're going to get to go home tomorrow, you need to rest up and save your strength." The nurse resumed her reading, marked a few items on the medical charts, and moved back towards the foot of the teenager's bed.

"Is there anyone out in the waiting room now?" Daniel asked hopefully. He didn't have any particular person in mind; he just felt the need to have a loved one near.

"An older couple was there a little while ago, possibly your grandparents, maybe? I think they may have slipped down to the gift shop when they saw you were sleeping. Shall I see if I can find them for you?"

Daniel was once again grateful for this angel of a nurse who showed up on duty each morning and made his daytime hours at the hospital profoundly less frightening.

"Oh, yes, if it wouldn't be too much trouble. I would really appreciate that."

"It's no trouble, no trouble at all." The woman smiled and slipped quietly from the room.

_Everyone has been so good to me._ Daniel thought.

He felt a bit guilty at all the inconvenience his injury had caused in the lives of those around him. He knew that his parents had practically stayed at the hospital all day and all night for two whole days, and that meant that work was piling up at Sleepy R Ranch. His grandfather from Idaho, who had come to visit them and had only been there one day, had been asked to ignore his massive fear of hospitals and needles to give him blood. His older brother missed a date to sit in the waiting room and do nothing while he was in surgery. His cousin Bobby had to find another student from Ten Acres to help him with the afternoon patrols. His aunt and uncle cancelled their trip to Yosemite and swapped their tickets for buddy passes to New York so they could fly separately, listen to his grandfather complain, and take a shift sitting up all night with him while he slept. He knew they wouldn't have done all of this if they didn't love him, but he still felt guilty.

"I see eyes!" Daniel's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. "Oh, Daniel, we thought you were resting, sweetheart."

It was Madeleine Wheeler. The frail, gray-haired woman pretended to be sneaking quietly into the room, as if she didn't want to disturb the young man in the bed. Her husband, Matthew Wheeler was close on her heals. He was a large, thick-bodied old man with salt- and –cinnamon colored hair, and he carried a box of chocolates wrapped in a shiny gold ribbon.

"Hi, Grammie. Poppa. I'm not sleeping. You guys come in and sit down a while."

"We can't stay, really. We were just so worried about you." The kindly woman took Daniel's hand gently, and the boy felt happy to see them.

He knew they weren't actually his grandparents, but they were the closest thing to parents that Bill Regan had ever known, and they really were grandparents to some of his cousins. At Manor house, Daniel and his siblings had always been treated like part of the Wheeler family and had been raised to call the wealthy senior citizens the same thing their biological grandchildren called them. He knew no difference in his heart.

"I see you brought me something." Daniel said, wagging his eyebrows up and down excitedly.

"Aw, you don't know anyone who likes chocolate, now, do you?" His "Poppa" asked playfully.

"More than you do? No. But I've been known to take down a few Whitman's samplers in my time." Daniel teased back. It was their thing. They both loved chocolates.

"These aren't the fancy kind I get when I travel in Europe, mind you, but they're the best I can do in a place like this." He handed the expensive looking box to the boy with one hand and gently roughed the youth's thick, black hair with the other. "When you think you can move around well enough again, I just might take you with me to Europe and you can get something better yourself."

Daniel breathed in quickly at the idea; he knew Mr. Wheeler never joked about travel, and he believed the man would make good on his offer. _Wow! Would Mom and Dad let me go? How cool!_

It was his "Grammie's" turn to give Daniel something.

"Daniel, Emmie sent you this card. We stopped by Honey's place on our way here, and it was all we could do to keep that poor little thing there. She wanted to come see you so badly." Mrs. Wheeler pulled the handmade sentiment from her purse and held it out to Daniel. He reached for it, and she grimaced at the sight of the I.V. line taped to the back of the boy's hand. "Oh, does that hurt?"

"Not really Grammie," Daniel lied. "It's fine. They may take it out tonight and let me go home tomorrow."

He quickly read the card from Trixie's adopted daughter and felt a lump begin to grow in his throat. Poor Emily didn't always know how to communicate properly with others because of her autism, but Daniel thought the message she sent was exactly what he needed to hear right then. It said,

"Dear Daniel, I need you fixed. Take me for walks again soon. Love, Emmie."

The boy swallowed back tears and thought about the long road that lay ahead of him. Tomorrow, he would go home in a wheelchair and would not even be able to use crutches or a walker for several weeks. But, he was now determined to work hard and get back on his feet again someday. _I can't let little Emmie down! _ She always inspired him.

The Wheelers saw the emotion on Daniel's face, and they mistook it for exhaustion.

"Now, you just sit back and get your rest, Daniel." Mrs. Wheeler said, leaning over and giving the boy a kiss on the forehead. "If you need anything and can't reach us, you just call Celia. Okay?"

"Yes Ma'am," Daniel replied. He was feeling very sad to see them leaving.

"Don't you eat that whole box of candy at once, now, you here?" Mr. Wheeler teased; he carefully shook hands with Daniel and began following his wife out of the room. Daniel suddenly thought of something.

"Poppa?"

"Yes?" The older man turned around just before he reached the door.

"If you…see Will…tell him… I…I'm sorry he missed his date with Candace."

As the Regan family horse farm had become increasingly successful and demanded more of his dad's time, Daniel's brother Will had recently taken over Regan's old position as groom for the Wheeler's stable. Daniel figured that Mr. Wheeler might see him, since he was living on their property in Regan's old apartment.

"Certainly. Consider your message delivered, my boy! But don't you worry about Will and that girl of his. If she can't understand that you needed him here, then he doesn't need her."

As he left the room, Mr. Wheeler suddenly thought back to a time when he once gave Bill Regan some similar advice about a young lady who didn't seem to understand where Bill was needed…


	14. It wasn't what it looked like

_Another episode of "fun with flashbacks": This time, Mr. Wheeler's POV_

A gentle summer breeze blew through the treetops as soft sounds of crickets and frogs announced the coming of darkness. Matthew Wheeler took advantage of the peaceful mood and drew in a few large breaths. He was on his way out to his stables to check on the groom, Bill Regan, and he was trying to psych himself up for what he knew would be an encounter with a very emotional young man. Bill's nephew Dan Mangan was battling cancer; today's treatments had been especially rough on both of them. Matthew wanted to be there for his friend who, truth be told, was more like a son to him than an employee.

As he neared the entrance to the barn, Matthew was surprised to hear the faint sound of a female's voice. He wondered if he should just come back later, but something in Bill's tone as he responded to the unseen woman made the older man want to listen. He stepped closer to the open doors at the front of the stable and tried to make out the conversation.

"…and I'm sure that was not his intention when he asked me to take her out to dinner. They're just kids. You have no idea how hard he's been working to keep everyone from being scared or worried about him…maybe…maybe he's trying to convince himself that everything will be okay…I don't know. But, you…you just can't jump to conclusions without even asking me…"

"I _am_ asking you, Bill." The woman's voice was clearer now. Matthew recognized it as that of Joan Stinson, Bill's girlfriend. He slipped quietly around the edge of one of the great doors to stand in the shadows beside the first stall. In the dim light of the barn, he could make out the couple's figures standing just outside of Bill's office.

"And I'm _telling_ you!" Bill was shouting now. "She's Dan's girlfriend, and she needed someone to talk to! It wasn't what it looked like!"

"Fine." Joan said, throwing up her hands and moving closer to Bill. "I'm just trying to understand…"

"Joan, she's hundreds of miles from home, they discussed some _very _grown up issues today that-really, it's unfair they should even have to worry about that stuff right now - and then she had a pretty big fight with her cousin. All the others had already eaten and Dan couldn't leave while he was hooked up to that machine. What else could I do? She was freaking out, so he asked me to get her out of there. Do you think I should have told him no? I would rather die than deny him _anything_ right now!"

"Okay, I…I get it. Bill, I'm not mad. I just didn't know what I saw, alright? I trust you, and you know that…it's just…well…the conversation between the two of you looked to be pretty…intense." Joan was trying to console the hot-headed Regan, but she didn't seem to be making much progress.

"Danny could be dying, Joan, I'd say that's pretty intense!"

"I'm sorry. Let's forget the whole thing. I wish I'd never brought it up." She reached up and rubbed Bill's broad shoulders and tried to seek his eyes with hers. But Bill stubbornly turned his head away and stared at the floor while he tried to regain his composure.

"I didn't realize his illness was already so serious." Her voice was soft as she continued to hold the young man by the shoulders. "Bill, please let me help you get through this. We could take a weekend and get away for a little while. I know a charming bed and breakfast just outside of…"

Bill pulled away from her and stood apart for a moment with a look of disbelief on his face.

"I can't leave him, now! Are you kidding? He's going through chemotherapy. He needs me."

"He needs the doctors who know how to take care of him, and you can't be any use to him if you're falling apart, too." Joan persisted in reaching out and gently making contact with his shoulder again. "You said so yourself that he doesn't want you to see him like this. It's painful and humiliating; I know, my father also went through all of this with my grandmother, last year. Trust me. It would be good for the both of you if you would take some time for yourself."

Matthew decided he should probably interrupt the conversation before Bill had a chance to get angry with her again. He could certainly understand Joan's arguments, but after everything that had happened today, he knew Bill was in no mood to be reasoned with.

"Well, hello there, Miss Stinson," he called out as he pretended to be just joining them in the barn. "I didn't know you were here."

"She wasn't staying," Bill said quietly, giving Joan a hint, "She was just about to leave."

"Yes…yes I only came by for a moment." Matthew felt sorry for the dejected Joan as she stammered a bit and seemed unsure of what to say or do in her hasty exit. She briefly pecked her boyfriend's cheek with a kiss and waved a nervous goodbye to the two men before striding quickly out of the stable with an increasing blush across her face.

"I didn't mean to make her leave…" Matthew began.

"No, it's alright. She had somewhere else she needed to be." Regan lied.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Matthew hoped Bill would feel comfortable enough to get some things off his chest.

Regan immediately stepped into his office and began holding up papers, pointing at the desk calendar, and rapidly focusing his attention on all things business. "Well, Mr. Wheeler, I took care of setting those appointments for Jupiter and Lady to get their physicals, and that should get everyone updated. The weekly order for feed got processed late last week, so the mill sent us some extra buckets of oats this week, and – oh – did you think we should bring Spartan back here, since he isn't getting much exercise out there at Maypenny's with Dan not able to ride him?"

"Bill," Mathew said with a gentle sigh, "First of all, you _can_ call me Matt, you know. Come on. After all we've been through in the last few years I think we're practically family now. And, second of all, I didn't come out here to talk about the horses. Honey said things were awful at the hospital today." He paused to give his friend time to consider letting his guard down. "Are you okay?"

Bill looked as if he were about to deny reality and gloss over his feelings, but after his conflict with Joan, the fight had gone out of him. He sat down at his desk with a defeated look and hung his head.

"No… Matt…I'm not. I knew this would be hard, but I had no idea…maybe Joan is right. Maybe I _am_ falling apart." He was fighting back tears and gripping the edges of his chair.

Matthew thought it best to shoot straight and be completely honest with the young man.

"I'm sorry. I don't have any experience with this sort of thing, but you know I'm willing to do whatever I can to help you and Dan." He sat down on the couch across from Regan to give him some space to cry without shame.

"You've done so much already. I can never repay you as it is." Regan whispered.

_Again with the money thing, _Matthew thought to himself. _Why can't he just let me do this for him? Don't be so proud, Bill. Dan's in trouble, and I can at least help with the bills._

"To have Danny get well and see you smile again will be all the payment I ever need." He meant it. The twenty five year old groom and his eighteen year old nephew were very special to Matthew. He included them in his family Christmases and vacations. They were like sons to him. He had to make him see that this was about family, not charity.

"If being financially successful means that you can't help the people you love, then what's the point?" Matthew asked quietly.

That did it. Bill Regan broke. His sobs shook his large frame as he buried his face in folded arms over the desk in front of him.

"I…I'm …so…grateful…to…you. I…know…you…care…about us…thank you…I…thank you." The red-headed groom tried to get control of himself, but he just couldn't stop his emotions. "With… my sister gone …Dan's all the blood family I have left in the world. Oh God…how did he…how did he do this…when his mother was so sick? I wasn't there…for him. He didn't …didn't have someone like you to…to help him then. This whole thing…it makes…me feel … so helpless. I can't…stop it…I can't fix the problem. I'm responsible for him…but I don't know how to help him. It's…so humbling… " He gave in and sat weeping over the desk in abandon. He had been carrying too much for too long, and he couldn't keep it in any longer. The burden was greater than such a young man ought to bear alone.

Matthew chose to remain quiet and let Bill get it all out. He made no move to touch him; neither of the two men were big on "touchy feely" behavior. He just folded his hands, fought back the urge to weep himself, and made sure Bill had all the time he needed in order to say whatever he wanted to say. After some time, when the catharsis was over, Bill raised his watery, green eyes and choked out his thanks once again.

"Anytime, son. I mean it. You aren't alone in this. And neither is Dan." Matthew waited to see if Bill wanted to discuss his argument with Joan. When nothing was said for a long time, he decided to test the waters.

"So, Joan said you were falling apart, huh? What else did she say?" Matthew Wheeler was a very direct person; he just didn't know any other way to be. But he was afraid he had pushed too hard when Bill didn't respond right off. When Regan finally did speak, Matthew was surprised at the younger man's maturity and insight regarding the matter.

"I think she's feeling insecure in our relationship right now. I know it's gotta be hard for her with me being so distracted and all...maybe I should be more sensitive to her needs."

"Is she being sensitive to yours?" Matthew's question surprised Regan.

"Of course…at least…she's trying to. She wanted to take me away for a weekend and get my mind off things. Yeah, she's considering how I feel right now…"

"Considering how you feel and giving you what you need are two different things." Matthew interrupted gently.

"I…I don't even know what I need." Bill sighed and looked down at his freckled hands.

Matthew stood up and moved toward the door. He thought he should let the young man have some time alone to think, but not before he could leave him with some well-earned advice.

"Son, I learned a lot of things about relationships the hard way when Maddie and I were pushing our little girl off into the care of strangers all over the world. We had some trouble in our home, and I'm not proud to admit that I was mostly to blame. **But now I know, it's really hard to stand up to the storms in your life if the person who is supposed to be the other half of yourself is always trying to help you run away from them." **

He paused to let his words sink in.

"I enabled Maddie's depression, allowed her to keep Honey away from us both, and like a coward, I would retreat into my work as if everything was okay." Matthew could tell by the look on Bill's face that he was astonished at this confession.

"But it wasn't okay. I knew what we needed, and it wasn't until I stood firmly _with_ my wife and daughter by my side that we were able to win the battle and become a family again. We never would have been able to give Jim the home he needed if I hadn't made the choice to face everything head on." Bill nodded his head to indicate he understood what Mr. Wheeler was trying to tell him.

"Now, don't get me wrong. I like Joan. She's a fine young lady, and I know you two go way back. I'm sure she'd be an excellent wife and mother someday. You just have to make sure that the woman you choose to make a lifelong commitment with is not just someone who will fight _for_ you, but _beside_ you, as well."

"You're…you're right, Mr. Whee…I mean…Matt. You've given me a lot to think about." Regan gave his employer an appreciative smile. The two men had been really seeing each other for the first time tonight. Matthew could tell Bill was feeling better. His work here was done…for now.

"Don't think too hard tonight, son. You just get yourself some rest and I'll make some time to be there with you and Dan tomorrow at the hospital, okay?"

"Yes sir. Thank you…for everything."

"You're most welcome, Bill. We're going to get through this. You'll see."

_**Well, hope you have some new questions, because I've got all the answers coming up – want to know about those "grown up" things Dan and Hallie had to discuss? What about the fight between Hallie and Trixie?**_ _**Hee hee hee…stay tuned.**_


	15. How do you prepare?

Present Day:

"Girls! We are leaving this house in one hour!" Diana Belden shouted up the stairs to her daughters. The sound of her voice echoed in the large foyer of what was her childhood home. Her message brought a dark haired teenager bounding down the steps with a cell phone in one hand and an iPod in the other.

"Mom! I just got a call from Reese, who said she just talked to Brianna, who just got a text from Nick saying that Daniel's already home! I thought we were going to be there waiting to surprise him!" The fifteen year old Laura was giving her mother a face filled with customary teen angst and holding out her hands as if Di should place all the answers of the world into each palm. The older woman had to shake her head and laugh.

"Darling, it's not a surprise party. It isn't even time for us to be there yet, and besides, you know we had to wait on your father to get back from the spinach farm this morning."

"Uuuggghhh!" Laura cried exasperated. She finished descending the steps and started scrolling through her playlist while muttering under her breath and following her mother to the kitchen.

"I can't believe that 'know-it-all' Brianna has to stick her nose in my family's business. I mean, it is so obvious she has a crush on Daniel, but she has to go bragging to my best friend that she knows something I don't know about my own cousin…oooh I can't stand that girl! Fiona agrees with me. Daniel is too good for her." Laura flopped down in one of the chairs at the breakfast nook and continued searching for a particular song on her portable Mp3 player.

Di smiled to herself and opened the oven to check on the cake she was baking for Daniel's coming home party. She was grateful that the drama between the Bobwhites was never as heated as what her daughters and their cousins faced every day at Ten Acres. _Times sure have changed. Either we were much more civilized than kids these days, or we just didn't have the technology to bicker amongst ourselves in instant messaging mode._

Diana was about to admonish her daughter for talking about this other girl behind her back when her husband Mart joined them in the kitchen.

"Di, you have access to some of the finest personal chefs in our district. Why are you in here cooking?" He snuck up behind his wife, grabbed her around the waist, and planted several kisses on the back of her neck. She didn't fight him off but stood there and enjoyed the intimacy of the moment.

"Because it's my kitchen and I want to. My mother may not have taken pleasure in running this house without hired help, but I do. Is that a good enough reason for you, Martin, my love?"

"Hey, I learned a long time ago that you were the boss and you're always right!" Mart trailed new kisses along her neck, spun her around to face him, and slowly pulled her to him again until their lips met.

"Ew!" Laura grimaced. "Mom! Dad! Can't you do that somewhere else?"

"The grump has spoken!" Mart released Diana and turned to face his surly daughter with a menacing glare. He held up his hands in a threatening manner as he slowly approached the girl.

"You forget…I know where you're most ticklish! Ah…you're my next victim!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Laura shrieked. She put on that she was horrified at the thought, but it was obvious that she was secretly happy with all the attention. She abandoned her electronics on the table in front of her and bolted for the living room.

Diana shook her head and laughed again as she could make out the sounds of Mart chasing Laura around the sofa in the next room. It had been a long time since he had "played" with the girls like that.

"You are never too old for a good tickling, my girl!" She heard Mart say.

"I'm not the one who's old, Dad, you are. You can't even catch me."

"Perhaps no, but I won't have a need once I stun you with my 'pillow of doom'."

Di's breath caught in her throat when she heard the last statement.

"Woah! Wait a minute!" She quickly strode out of the kitchen to interrupt her loved ones' game. "I just spent three weeks trying to match the pillows in this room to the new drapes, and I am not about to let you two destroy them in one of your epic pillow fights!" As an interior designer by trade, Di simply did not joke around about throw pillows.

"Sorry, Mom." Laura quickly put back the pillow she had just taken from a side chair, while Mart began rearranging several more he had begun to hoard on the sofa.

"Foiled again." Mart teased.

Having avoided danger to her handiwork, Di was about to return to what she was working on in the kitchen when she suddenly realized that something was missing.

"Laura, where's your sister? Is she still upstairs?"

"Um…I don't know. Guess so." The girl moved back to the kitchen to continue her love affair with her music player, and Mart flopped down on the sofa to relax. Di decided she should go upstairs and make sure that Lydia was going to be ready to leave soon. It seemed that the twins often needed at least an hour's notice before being able to get out of the house on time.

As the raven haired woman began to make her way to the steps, the doorbell rang. Being closer than her husband was to the door, Di decided to be the one to answer it.

"I'll get it." She said quickly.

_How many times did Harrison answer this doorbell over the years, I wonder._ Di began to think of her family's butler who retired from service several years ago when her parents moved to the senior citizen community at the country club and left Mart and Di this house.

Diana opened the front door and was surprised to see her brother-in-law Bobby standing there.

"Bob? I thought you guys were already on your way to the Sleepy R. Is something wrong?"

"No, no no. We're going to the party. No problem. In fact, I think 'Bella and Angelica might already be on their way over there now. I just… needed to talk to Mart…about something."

"Oh, sure." Di opened the door wider to let the younger man in. She thought she would continue her mission to hurry Lydia along, but something in the way Bobby was acting stopped her. She decided to "water the plants" in the living room so she could discover what this was all about.

Di knew that Mart and Bobby had argued the night before last; Mart had come home from the greenhouse practically in tears. The only thing she could get out of him was that he felt he'd pushed too hard to get Bob to talk about his feelings. She knew it killed Mart for the two of them to disagree, and she hoped they could work this out before everyone got together at Hallie and Regan's ranch. Diana made herself fade into the background as Bobby and Mart started off with idle chit-chat. Soon, there was an uncomfortable silence, and Mart finally stood and walked closer to his brother.

"How's…how's your arm? I didn't hurt you…did I?" Mart asked quietly.

_Oh my gosh! What is he talking about? _ Di nearly dropped her watering can in shock.

"Pshaw! Are you kidding? I'm not old and soft like you, Mart."

_He seems okay…maybe it was no big deal and Mart's making a fuss about nothing._ Di thought.

"Still, Bobby, I…I can't believe I was so tough on you. You're welcome to believe whatever you want…but…I'm still going to worry about you. I just love you too much, you know." The last part of her husband's words fell away softly, but they didn't fall on deaf ears.

"I love you, too, Mart." Bobby stepped forward and pulled his older brother into an embrace.

Di breathed a sigh of relief. _I hope that's the end of it._

But she noticed that her brother-in-law still seemed perplexed when he pulled away from Mart and crossed to the other side of the room.

"You said you were coming by yesterday, but you didn't come. I thought…I thought maybe you changed your mind about the…you know…last cache." The younger man seemed uncertain.

"I felt like I was forcing you to do something you weren't ready to do, so I let it go. Besides, Daniel won't be up to it for a while yet…"

"I think _I'm_ finally up for it." Bobby said, his mood brightening. This seemed to also perk Mart up a bit, too.

"Yeah? You think it's a good idea?"

"Yeah. I'm ready to pass the torch to Daniel and get some closure about everything that happened. It's…it's about time."

"You can say that again!" Mart said happily. He clapped his brother on the back and pulled him back over to the sofa to sit down. "So, where do we start? Do you still have the final coordinates?"

_Coordinates? Oh boy! What kind of crazy scientific scheme are these two cooking up, this time?_

"Well…that's what I came by to talk to you about. I don't have the coordinates or parts of the last clue. They're um…well…gone."

"Great! Now what?" Mart whined.

"I think I could get us started in the right direction, and we'd probably have to reread the last message before the final clue, but…maybe with all three of us working on it…we could still try, right?"

"Right! I perceive that this endeavor will be most indubitably efficacious in assuaging our lamentations at having never determined the domicile of the final, clandestine treasure!"

_Oh yes, they're both back to normal, now!_ Di felt comfortable leaving the brothers to continue plotting whatever it was they were so excited about. She put down her watering can and climbed the stairs to locate Laura's twin sister.

"Lydia?" Di called as she ascended to the top of the staircase. "Sweetheart? We're going to have to leave soon! Are you about ready?"

Di stopped when she noticed Lydia sitting on the window seat at the large, round lookout window positioned at the end of the upstairs hall. The girl was sniffing as if she had been crying, and although Diana was certain her daughter had heard her, the teen made no move to turn and face her mother.

"Baby?" Di asked quietly. "What's wrong?"

"I'm a little worried about Daniel…how he's doing and…what it will be like…to see him… in…you know…in a wheelchair." The girl whispered, almost as if she was ashamed of her insecurities, and Di felt her heart breaking inside of her.

"Oh, no, sweetie. It will be fine. He's completely okay with it. I promise. You'll see."

Although Lydia was identical to her sister in looks, there were never two sisters any more opposite in disposition. Laura was the social butterfly who just knew that everything was all about her, but Lydia was the one who internalized everything and put everyone else's feelings above her own. Di started to kick herself for not realizing sooner that Lydia was going to be affected more deeply by all of this than her sister.

"Mom, don't baby me, I know how serious this is." The girl finally turned where Diana could see her face. _She's really been worrying about this, hasn't she?_ "I know if Daddy and Uncle Bobby hadn't found him, he could have bled to death. It's…it's a miracle."

"Yes, it is. And that's what we should celebrate. The miracle. Not focus on the danger."

"But, Mom, what if he still can't use that leg? The doctor said that he couldn't promise the bones will heal back strong enough so he can walk on them. If he has to stay in that wheelchair for the rest of his life…it…it would be so awful for him. Kids at school can be so mean… he can't play football anymore…"

"Lydia. I know it's frightening, but you have to have faith…"

"I do, you know I do, it's just…"

"We can't worry about what may or may not happen tomorrow, baby. We just have to believe in the one who already knows what's going to happen…and then go from there."

Lydia looked up into her mother's eyes and Di saw something in them flash as if the girl was remembering something from the past.

"That's what Dad always says…"

"And I know exactly where he got it." Diana gave a smile as she sat down beside her daughter and took both of the girl's hands in hers.

"Did you two get that from Aunt Cara?" Lydia asked. Di's younger sister Cara married a missionary in the Philippines and was quite a source of inspiration to all of her family and friends.

"No, from our friend Dan." Di said gently. "You know, there were a lot of times when we were about your age that the others would go away on trips and Dan and I were stuck here. Oh, I guess I was pretty mad at your grandfather for not letting me go, and Dan resented his parole issues; but really, we did have a lot of great times together while the others were gone. Dan always had a way of taking a bad situation and making it seem as if it were the most fun anybody could ever have. He gave me a lot of great advice. Especially concerning your father."

"You and Dad miss him a lot, don't you?"

"Yes," Di whispered, "very much."

"He was so young, too. Like…I was thinking about how Daniel could have died and all…it's really scary. Somebody my age can just be going on about his business and …BAM…he's dead. It can happen to anyone. I… I guess…I never really thought about it before. I've…I've never lost someone I loved…or known a kid who died. It's just scary."

"I know, dear. Believe me, I know. It was really hard on all of us when our friend died. But knowing that he was prepared helped us get through it a little easier."

"Oh my gosh, Mom. What are you talking about? How does a kid prepare for something like that?" Lydia was horrified at the thought.

"Dan's mother was very sick for a long time before she died. She was a devout Irish Catholic with a lot of faith and a lot of love. Dan used to tell me stories about her and all the ways she helped him cope with her illness. I'm sure he was scared, but he never let us see it. He was so brave. Darling, it helps you to let go of someone you love when you know he's sure of where he's going and has few regrets about what he's leaving behind."

Lydia gave a small laugh and squeezed her mother's hands. "Did you get that advice from Dan, too?"

"Nope. That came from your grandfather. He taught me that when I was very young and my own grandfather was dying. And he was right. Grandpa Harvey was ready to go, and he'd lived a really great life."

"But your friend Dan had only just started living his life…"

"It's not the length of your life that matters; it's what you do and who you touch while you're alive that really makes your life worthwhile.

"Wow, you sure are full of aphorisms today, aren't you?" Lydia teased.

"And you sure sound like your father using such language. How do you even know what an aphorism is, anyway?" Di was grateful that Lydia was feeling comfortable enough now to joke around.

"My honors English class. Miss Durvelle taught us all about Emerson and his transcendentalist aphorisms. I like all that deep junk, so I guess it stuck with me."

The young girl gave a sigh and put her arms around her mother in a loving hug.

"Thanks, mom. I feel better, now. I won't let Daniel see me freak out about his wheelchair or anything. I don't want to scare him, too."

"That's the spirit. You'll see. Everything is going to be fine." Di took advantage of the moment to hold her daughter, knowing that these hugs were going to continue to be rarer the older her girls grew. "I love you." She whispered into her daughter's hair.

"I love you, too, Mom."

After a time, Di reluctantly let Lydia go and began to walk towards the stairs again.

"Well, I'm sure Daniel's cake is a bit toasted, now. I need to go get it out of the oven. We should be leaving in a few minutes. Are you ready to go?"

"I am, now." Lydia said giving her mom a brilliant smile.

Di gave a nod and started down the steps. As she walked, she began to remember another time when she came down a different staircase and encountered a very similar conversation about life, death, and the need for faith.


	16. You get it, right?

_Flashback in Di's POV (pt 1)_

"Oh come on Di, you do get it, right?" Seventeen year old Trixie Belden pointed to the pilot cap and goggles on her head and crossed her arms in expectation.

When her friend Diana Lynch didn't immediately blurt out the answer Trixie was looking for, the freckle-faced blonde gave an exasperated sigh and threw her hands up in the air.

"I'm Amelia Earheart! See the leather flight jacket? Sheesh, for someone who grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth you sure do need a bit more culture, girl!" Trixie stepped aside and let Diana pass by her in the foyer to enter the main living room of Manor House where all the other Bobwhites were already gathered for their annual Halloween Party.

Diana laughed as she thought about what Trixie had said.

"You know, Trix, I see the likeness now, but you really look too pretty to be Amelia Earheart. I think she was supposed to be…um…manly."

"I'll take that as a compliment, I think." Trixie laughed. "And you certainly look spectacular as Cleopatra. Show off!"

"Do you think Mart will like it?" Di couldn't help but ask.

"Di, you could get my brother's attention if _you_ were dressed like Amelia Earhart. He's mad about you, and you know it. I sure wish someone would be like that over me."

"Speaking of that someone…" Di trailed off as Jim Frayne came strolling over to the two girls and handed each of them a cup of apple cider.

"A cup of Mrs. Trask's special recipe, just for the two of you. Hello, Di. Nice costume." Jim's hand seemed to linger near Trixie's as he handed her one of the cups, and the girl all but fell over with excitement.

Di had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at her friend's response. Trixie deserved a nice guy like Jim, and Diana was grateful that he seemed to like her just as much as she liked him. She decided it would probably be a good time to leave the two of them alone for a while, so she excused herself and casually crossed to where their friend Honey Wheeler was putting apples in a large container of water.

"Oh no," Di stated, "Are we going to have a repeat of last year's disaster? We really shouldn't do this bobbing for apples game inside, especially the way these guys like to play in water."

"Di! You made it! Come on and help me finish putting these apples in here. Oh wow! You're costume is super!"

"Thanks, I like yours, too. Did Mrs. Trask make it?"

Honey proudly smoothed the blue gingham-patterned skirt of her Dorothy costume and gave a quick nod. "Oh yes, she's very talented at sewing. I helped a bit, but I couldn't have done this whole thing on my own."

Di could tell that her friend was very close to her family's housekeeper, and she felt a bit jealous. The Lynch family couldn't keep a good housekeeper, and Di certainly never even felt friendly with any of their servants, save for Harrison the butler. _If I have money when I'm on my own, _Diana thought to herself, _I think I could still manage my own house._

While helping Honey with the apples, Diana was pleasantly interrupted by a hug from behind. She knew instinctively that it was Mart, and she quickly turned around to return the affection with a hug and a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Hey, hey, hey, now!" Dan Mangan teased as he strode up to them and snuck an apple out of Honey's hand. "You two are getting way too touchy feely over here!"

"And you are getting too grabby!" Honey pouted. "That's for the game!" With a quick motion that looked to be out of a circus act, Dan placed the apple on his shoulder, rolled it down his arm, and flicked it perfectly into the basin of water beside his friends.

"Only for you, Dorothy," Dan said with a laugh. "Oh, and maybe your little dog, too…" He crinkled up his fingers and cackled like the Wicked Witch of the West.

Everyone had a good laugh, and Di immediately began to notice that none of the boys in the room appeared to be in costume.

"Hey, what gives? I thought this was supposed to be a costume party! You guys lied to us!" Di was a bit miffed at her boyfriend and the other fellows for not properly participating in the club's traditional party.

"Oh, we're going to be in costume alright," Mart said lifting his eyebrows seductively. Di suddenly felt a bit sorry she'd asked. _There's no telling…_

"Hey, Brian," Dan called out to Mart's older brother, "You ready?"

Brian crossed over to them, let out a sigh, and started shaking his head at his brother and his friends. "I can't believe I let you talk me in to this." He said with a grin.

"I'll get Jim!" Mart hollered and quickly jogged over to where Jim and Trixie were talking by the fireplace. Di was a bit sad for Trixie, because she knew that Mart was interrupting something important for her friend. Since Jim went away to college, Trixie had to take advantage of every opportunity she could get to spend some time with the object of her affection.

When Jim joined them, Honey also seemed a bit confused as to what the boys were up to.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked hesitantly.

"You'll see." Mart giggled. "Here, you ladies go stand on the other side of the couch – Dan, you and Jim sit with me on the sofa, and Brian can do this from in back."

"Why am I afraid?" Trixie asked sarcastically.

The girls looked at each other with curious glances and shook their heads as they obeyed with Mart's instructions. Once the girls were standing in front of the seated boys, Brian pulled out what appeared to be a black, permanent marker and held it up as if he was about to begin drawing on the backs of the teens' heads. It would be easy for him to do, since Mart and Jim had recently shaved their heads to make Dan feel more comfortable about having lost his hair to chemotherapy. They were three bald canvases waiting for inspiration.

"You wouldn't dare!" Honey suddenly cried out. "Brian! That won't wash off!"

"Relax," Brian said with an uncharacteristic gleam of mischief in his eye. "It's a face-paint marker. It's harmless."

Brian took his time, acting like an artist at work on a masterpiece, despite all the others' pleas for him to hurry up. When he was done drawing on the scalps in front of him, he held up his hand to keep the waiting girls from walking around to see.

"Not yet, I have to finish 'posing' them." Brian said with a laugh.

"Oh, good grief! Will you get on with it, already?" Trixie bellowed. Di laughed at her friend's impatience. _That's Trixie_.

Brian reached down, grabbed one of Jim's hands, and placed it carefully on a particular location on the back of his head. Then, he took both of Marts hands and placed them over his ears. Finally, he took both of Dan's hands and put them carefully on a strategic place on the back of his head.

"There! All done. Come and s…"

Brian had not even finished his sentence before Trixie and the other girls flew around the sofa to stand and gawk at Brian's work.

"Oh my… Brian, that's um…interesting!" Trixie said covering her mouth in suppressed hysteria.

"Are those supposed to be jack-o-lantern faces?" Honey asked carefully.

"It looks more like Pablo Picasso got a hold of them." Di retorted. "I get the 'hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil' deal, Brian, but aren't jack-o-lantern eyes supposed to be triangular?"

"Hey, what did you do back there?" Mart suddenly leaped to his feet and gave his brother a scared look. "Where's a mirror!"

"We're just joking, Mart." Trixie said with another hearty laugh. "The three pumpkin faces look great. But, you should have seen the look on your face!"

"Yeah," Honey laughed, "Gotcha!"

Di just continued laughing at her friends and felt like the evening was off to a great start.


	17. What's happening?

_Flashback in Di's POV (pt 2)_

_Later on , during the night of the Halloween party, up in Honey's bedroom:_

"So, let's see it, already." Trixie cried impatiently.

Honey quickly opened up the door to her massive closet and produced a dress bag for her friends' inspection. When the ooohs and aahhs died away, she teasingly began pulling the bag slowly off of the garment.

Di could tell that Trixe was about to explode.

"Oh, come on!" Trixie hopped off Honey's bed and acted as if she was going to snatch the dress away from her friend, but Honey dodged the anxious hands. She turned and swiftly revealed the sought after item.

Di and Trixie gasped together at the sight.

It was a gorgeous evening gown with just enough sparkle to make Honey's eyes shine like diamonds. The shy girl held the dress in front of her and gave her friends a questioning gaze.

"It's perfect for you!" Di breathed. She meant it. The dress was going to be such an attention-getter. "Brian will flip when he gets a load of you in that!"

"Well, I don't know about that. He's so…so quiet…I mean…I think he only…he only asked me to this fall formal because…well…he hasn't really had time to…to meet a lot of new girls at college…"Honey was so giddy and so uncertain that she couldn't even get her words out.

"Hey, _I_ know. I've lived with him, remember?" Trixie said with a wave of her hand. "He really likes you, Honey. He's just not good at showing it, okay? Di's right. That dress is going to knock him dead."

"Thanks, you guys. I feel so perfectly perfect right now!" Honey clasped her dress to her chest and sighed.

Trixie rolled her eyes, but Di knew that even "Trixie the tomboy" could appreciate this moment. They were all too close to have any real jealousies or begrudge each other any happiness.

Once the dress was back in its place of honor in Honey's closet, and the girls had spent time giggling and gossiping, a soft knock at the door reminded them that they weren't alone in the house.

"Trix?" It was Jim's voice. "Are you…are you in there?"

"He's come for you," Di teased with raised eyebrows.

"Stop it," Trixie gasped." She tossed a pillow at her friend

"Mart and Brian have already gone. Can I walk you home?" Jim asked through the door.

"_Say Yes!"_ Honey mouthed silently.

"I'm on my way…I mean…YES!" Trixie scrambled to the door excitedly as Diana and Honey followed with little giggles. "I'll call you tomorrow…" She whispered back to her friends.

Trixie and Jim disappeared down the hall and Di turned back to Honey who was still standing in the doorway of her bedroom. They began chatting about the party, Trixie's "are they or aren't they together" relationship with Jim, and how much fun they had all been having. Their conversation soon turned to Dan.

"I thought what the guys did for Dan tonight was really wonderful. He seemed to enjoy it."

"Oh boy, those pumpkin faces Brian drew were too funny!" Honey agreed.

"I think Dan actually ate at dinner, too. Maybe the nausea is going away"

"Yes, I think he's doing really well."

The two girls were feeling exceptionally pleased about the evening's events as they strolled down the hall together towards the grand staircase. They were only a few steps down the spiral when Di suddenly thought of something.

"Wait a minute! If Mart talked Brian into going home early, then who's gonna walk _me_ home?" Di had been silently praising her boyfriend's little plot, because it gave Jim and Trixie time together that they didn't have when Mart interrupted them earlier in the evening. But now, she was dreading the long walk home so late at night.

"No problem, Di, Tom could drive you - or you could just stay here tonight. I'm sure Daddy wouldn't mind. Mother is on a trip with her women's guild. Besides, Dan's still staying downstairs, so we can all get up in the morning and raid what's left of all the s'mores we made earlier." Honey grinned happily at the thought.

"Okay, then, I'd like to stay. I need to call my parents and let them know."

"Let's go back up to my room and you can call from there." Honey said excitedly. Di knew that Honey loved to have company, and she wished now that they had thought to invite Trixie to stay. But she also knew that Trixie wouldn't want to give up this time alone with Jim – on a moonlit night – how romantic! She smiled to herself thinking about how perfect the two of them were for one another. _Just like Mart is for me!_

After making the call home and letting Honey load her down with guest room toiletries and borrowed pajamas, Diana thought it would be best if the two girls returned downstairs to help clean up the party and say goodnight to everyone.

"We were so excited about seeing your dress that we sort of abandoned everyone; sorry about that." Di said politely.

"Oh, it was practically over, anyway. And I know that Dan probably needs to be getting some rest. I guess it was a good idea to let everything die down early."

Di began thinking about their friend's condition. He was now in between sessions of chemotherapy and was beginning to get his strength back. _He looked strong tonight , _she thought._ I'm glad the Wheelers are helping to take care of him._

Mr. Wheeler had insisted that Dan move into Manor House during his treatments, because he thought that conditions in Mr. Maypenny's old cabin might be too dangerous for the teen's weakened immune system. It was a hard sell with the old gamekeeper at first, but the weaker Dan grew, the more Mr. Maypenny realized that having no central heating or air was not ideal for someone who was sick. He spent as much time with Dan as he could, the same as his uncle Bill Regan, yet, Diana still felt a bit sorry for the old man at having to deal with the separation. Of course, tonight was proof in her mind that Mr. Wheeler's idea was working. Dan seemed to be doing really well.

As the two girls once again descended the grand staircase, they were surprised to see that the house staff had already cleaned up the food and Halloween decorations. The housekeeper Mrs. Trask, as well as the maid Celia and her chauffer husband Tom Delanoy, sat drinking cider by the fire and seemed to be in a serious discussion with Dan and Mr. Wheeler.

_This looks a bit intense._ Di thought bleakly. _Leave it to the adults to end a party on a depressing note. I hope they aren't bugging him; he was having such a good time tonight. _She cast a sideways glance at Honey, who also seemed a bit nervous to approach the throng of grownups surrounding Dan.

Dan looked up, saw his friends approaching, and let the sober cloud on his face dissolve into a bright smile. "There you are! We wondered where you two had gone."

"Were we interrupting anything?" Di asked quietly.

"Oh no, just a little discussion about life and death…and the need for a little faith." Dan's eye caught a sparkle as he winked at Mrs. Trask. The older woman gave him an appreciative smile and a quick pat on the knee to show that she understood his comforting, and Di was struck at how Dan not only worked hard to keep his friends from being afraid, but he had obviously been counseling some of the adults in his life, too.

_His mom gave him too much advice about being brave. No one can be that fearless._ She was afraid of what could happen if Dan ever lost heart.

Honey's words beside her suddenly brought Di out of her thoughts.

"Daddy, I asked Di to stay tonight, is that okay?"

"Certainly, dear. And when Jim gets back from Crabapple Farm, you kids could roast some of those pumpkin seeds Celia saved from your carving contest." Mr. Wheeler said with a smile.

"Mmmm. And tell ghost stories." Tom encouraged. "That's what we used to do when I was a kid. No Halloween party is complete without a good ghost story."

After a bit more conversation of Halloween traditions and grand celebrations of the past, Jim returned to join the young people and the adults quietly excused themselves for the evening. Di looked over at Dan and knew that he wasn't going to last long enough for seed roasting or ghost stories. He looked exhausted. Jim, on the other hand, appeared as if he could fly.

"So," Honey teased her adopted brother, "did you enjoy your walk with Trixie?"

Jim's cheeks suddenly matched the flaming hue of his hair. He gave a shy laugh and tried to divert the discussion away from himself.

"Oh…yes…you know…good exercise. Speaking of exercise, maybe…tomorrow…Di, you and Honey could…help Regan take the horses out. You know? I'm sure he would appreciate that."

Everyone laughed at his attempt but Dan pressed further.

"Did you kiss her?" He got straight to the point with raised eyebrows and a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Dan! I don't ask about you and Hallie!" Jim cried out in embarrassment.

"Well, I guess after the Cryobank incident this summer, you really don't even have to ask. I think the whole world knows everything there is to know about our relationship, now." Dan was trying to be funny, but Di could detect a bit of hurt in his voice. She had wondered if it bothered him, and now she knew it did.

"Um, Dan…I'm sorry…" Jim started.

"No big deal," Dan said shrugging, "just get on with the gossip…I mean…did you? Huh? Did you kiss her?"

Honey bit her lip and folded her hands together as if pleading her brother to talk, and Di held her hands up at her shoulders as if to ask Jim, _Will you hurry up?_

Jim finally gave in with a good natured laugh and flopped down beside Honey on the couch.

"Oh my gosh, alright already! Yes, I kissed her. Are you guys happy, now?"

"Whoo Hoo!" Honey shouted.

"It's about time, Romeo" Dan laughed.

"Was she surprised?" Di wanted to know.

"Well…it kind of …wasn't the first time, actually." Jim seemed confused that his friends had assumed tonight was their first kiss.

"Told ya!" Di blurted to Honey. She just knew they'd kissed before.

"Oh man! You were right." Honey snapped her fingers in disappointment at having been wrong.

"I can't believe you." Jim pretended to be offended. "My own sister. Talking about me behind my back. Just wait until I tell your best friend that you've been over here gossiping about us."

"Come on, Jim." Honey said with a giggle. "Like you and Mart don't say things about Brian and me. I heard you two snickering in the background that afternoon at the lake when he asked me to go with him to his fall formal."

"Unbelievable!" Jim shook his head in mock disbelief. He smiled again and put his arm around his sister in a quick hug and then leaned over and punched Dan softly on the shoulder. "Hey, you look beat. Maybe we should all turn in."

"Sounds good." Dan agreed.

As everyone moved to rise and leave the sitting area, Di noticed the color immediately drain from Dan's face. He staggered a bit and Jim quickly stepped forward to steady his friend by grabbing him by his upper arm.

"Guess I…stood up …too fast." Dan's voice was thin and frail; he was upright for a moment, but suddenly began to lean more heavily on Jim. The taller boy tightened his grip on his friend's arm then slipped his other arm around his waist. He eased Dan back down on the couch and bent down in front of him.

"Dan, you okay? You want me to get Dad?" Jim asked him quickly. He was obviously concerned, yet he was able to maintain a calm voice, for the sake of the girls.

Honey moved as if she were about to go get her father when Dan's response stopped her.

"No…no..please don't…I'm fine…"

"How about some water?" Di asked, suddenly remembering when Mart had fainted in the barn and Brian had sent her for a cup of water.

"No…I just…need a …need a…min…a minute."

Di glanced at Honey who was standing there with her hands covering her mouth and she got the impression that this was not the first time Dan had frightened Jim and Honey since he had been staying with them. She felt her own legs trembling and marveled at the way her friends were taking control of the situation; forcing back their fears; staying calm. She wanted to scream for help and call 9-1-1. Dan was suddenly so pale and almost incoherent. She'd never seen him like this, and it had happened so fast.

"Dan? Dan? Can you hear me?" Jim's voice was getting louder and more panicked as Dan quit responding verbally and just sat with his head lolling up and down and his eyes blinking hard. He was struggling to maintain consciousness. Jim shook him gently by the shoulders once more. "Dan?"

"Everything okay out here?" Mr. Wheeler asked, coming quickly into the room in response to Jim's cries; it was clear from his silk robe and house shoes that he had been preparing for bed.

"Dad, he nearly passed out like he did the other day. He's not talking to me." The once calm voice cracked as Jim moved aside to let Mr. Wheeler kneel in front of the groggy boy.

Before Mr. Wheeler could say or do anything, Dan reached up and grabbed the older man by the shoulder.

"Uncle Bill…help me!" He choked out. Di felt her stomach flip over at Dan's confusion and fear. Mr. Wheeler's dark red hair and broad shoulders did make him appear a bit like Regan. Unfortunately, she thought, in his current state, he might have even mistaken _her_ for his uncle.

_What's happening?_ She was very afraid at seeing Dan panic this way.

"It's alright, Danny." Mr. Wheeler soothed. He swiftly checked Dan's forehead for fever and then motioned to Jim to help him get the boy up off the couch. Together they pulled Dan into a sort of standing position and Mr. Wheeler then swept him up awkwardly into his arms to carry him. Dan clutched at the man's robe desperately.

"Regan? Wha…what's…going on?" Dan was still fighting his body's need to shut down.

"Sshh…Don't be afraid." Mr. Wheeler said, as if Dan were a little boy. He carried the lanky teen to a bedroom down the hall and gently laid him in the bed while the others looked on with horrified faces.

Dan lost the battle to stay alert and slipped into unconsciousness almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. The sudden change gave Di cause for panic. To her, this was not the same Dan who was comforting Mrs. Trask earlier. He was no longer confident and secure, but looked to her to be fragile and lifeless in the bed.

"Is he going to be okay? Shouldn't we call for a paramedic?" She turned to Jim and Honey and tried to keep from bursting into tears.

"He's…he's passed out…before…"Jim said, trying to console her, but the fear was still evident in his face. He squeezed Di's shoulder with one hand while grabbing the sniffing Honey's hand with his other. The three of them stood silently drawing strength from one another as Mr. Wheeler continued checking Dan over for signs of danger.

"Nothing to worry about, I'm sure." Mr. Wheeler said straightening before them. "He's been through quite a lot in the last few months, and when his body's ready to rest, it's ready. Just to be sure, I'll call the doctor in the morning. You kids go and get yourself some sleep. I'll stay with Dan for a while."

"I don't mind staying with him, Dad." Jim said.

"No, it's okay. I'll stay."

"Do you think I should get Regan?" Honey asked softly. "He might get mad if he finds out Dan was asking for him and we didn't go out and wake him."

"I'll deal with that tomorrow, if I have to." Her father responded gently. "There's no need to worry Bill with this tonight when there's nothing he can do. I promise. Everything is fine. Go on, now, and get some sleep."

Jim ushered the two girls out of the room and down the hall. The three of them seemed to hesitate when they reached the bottom of the staircase, unwilling to go up and leave their friend in such an unknown state.

"Do you think Mrs. Trask has some hot chocolate in the kitchen?" Di ventured. "We could get a head start on some of those s'mores you wanted for breakfast, Honey."

The others seemed relieved at Di's suggestion and welcomed the distraction with murmurs of agreement.

As they passed through the living room into the kitchen, Diana's mind frantically considered what had just happened and what it could all mean.

_ Oh God, please!_ She silently begged. _Please, please don't take him from us._

_**Okay, at this point, you should be wondering about the "Cryobank incident." I'm getting to it, I promise. That's why this story is called "Questions." And you should, by now, have plenty of them. **_

_**Sorry to dwell on Di's POV too long. I'm trying to give some of the lesser discussed characters some more facetime.(who do you want to see?)**_

_**Let me know what you think and even which questions you have – you might see them voiced in these last few chapters and later answered in the sequel story which is coming up very soon (gives the answers and shows the romances in greater detail)**_

_**Thanks for your help as I edit this story and finally post it for everyone to read! **_


	18. Where willows weep no more

_Sometimes, there are places which hold significant meaning in our lives. _

For sixteen year old Daniel Mangan Regan, it was a quiet little space between two weeping willow trees which stood just beyond the main barn on his family's horse ranch. He knew that his parents, Bill and Hallie Regan had planted the trees in memory of two very special people. The taller one had been planted for Dan Mangan, his biological father, when Bill and Hallie had first bought this land. The second tree was not as old and been planted about a year after Daniel had been born. It was in remembrance of Mr. Maypenny, the man who was Dan's guardian and the original gamekeeper for Mr. Wheeler's game preserve.

Daniel did not find this place to be one of sorrow, despite the nature of the trees' species or the purpose of their tributes. It was a happy place where summer picnics were held and childhood outdoor discoveries were made. Under the drooping limbs of the two trees were three wooden benches that Bill had made for each of the three Regan children. Their names were lovingly carved on them.

This was Daniel's favorite place.

It was here that Daniel had silently stolen away to in the middle of his own coming home party. He'd had some difficulty getting his wheelchair through the grass and thought to turn back a few times, but something about the place was calling to him. He had been feeling a bit suffocated with all of the attention in the house, and he needed to get away to think.

His understanding of the memorial site was a little different at this time than it had been the last time Daniel was here. Now, he knew that Dan was his real father, and not his cousin, as he had been raised to believe. It made him want to get closer to that tree. But all of this really did nothing to change Daniel's impression of the dead man. In his mind, Bill Regan would always be his dad, and Dan would always be a sick boy who died too young. Daniel just couldn't see him as a father figure. He'd seen pictures of the teenager, who looked incredibly much like himself, and he didn't even consider him as a full grown adult. He was barely nineteen when he passed away.

_Oh my gosh, he was the same age as Will!_ Daniel thought. In fact, to Daniel's amazement, his older brother actually had almost a whole year on Dan's life, because Will would be turning twenty in a few months. He felt sick to his stomach thinking that his brother could die at such a young age. He wondered if Will had been that scared about him while he had been in the hospital this week.

As if on cue, Daniel suddenly heard his brother's voice coming from the direction of the house. Will had been late because he had stopped to pick up his girlfriend Candace, and it looked like they had only just arrived. Daniel wished he had not come out here and drawn the couple away from the party before they had even had time to enjoy themselves.

"Daniel? Are you crazy? What are you doing out here?" Will cried out when he saw where his brother had gotten himself off to. The tall, dark haired young man trotted forward, leaving his girlfriend scrambling to keep up.

_Great! He's freaked out. Not smart, Daniel_.

"Aw! Don't worry. I'm fine. I just needed a minute to get away from the crowds. You know how our family is. The louder the better, right?" He grimaced, thinking he was about to get a lecture from Mr. Responsible himself. But to his surprise, Will seemed to relax when he and Candace made it over to him and saw that Daniel was in no distress.

"Um…Okay… I guess." Will seemed nervous as he glanced at the two trees surrounding them with bowed limbs.

He suddenly knew why Daniel was here.


	19. climbing family tree nonessential

_**Note: This chapter is mostly designed to be a quick review of which children belong to which character, etc. One can totally skip this and still understand the main story. Read it if you want to climb the family tree. Skip it, if you don't.**_

_Present Day: Daniel's POV_

"So, you must be Candace," Daniel said to Will's girlfriend. "Will tells us a lot of nice things about you. I'm sorry you two missed your play because of me."

"Oh, no! Don't even worry about it." Candace smiled easily. "I completely understand. I've seen that one before, anyway."

Daniel immediately liked her. She was a nice height for Will, tall but not towering. She looked polished and proper, and her light brown eyes were friendly and warm. Her hair was the same color as her eyes and fell in loose curls around her face. She had a very pretty profile with a faint splash of freckles across her cheeks and nose. _ Way to go, Will!_

"Let us take you back inside." Will started, but Candace seemed to sympathize with Daniel's need to stay where was and she held up her hand to stop her boyfriend from pushing his brother's chair back toward the house.

"Actually, before we go back, I would really like a quick rundown of all the people I just met. I was…well…ambushed by so many faces. I don't know who is who! Can ya help me out?"

_Oh yeah, I like this one._ Daniel thought to himself.

"Well," Daniel began, as Candace and Will got comfortable on one of the wooden benches. "Obviously, you know Will is one of three children." Daniel pointed to the benches and read off the names. "Will – Daniel – Fiona."

"Got it!" Candace said with a laugh. "Those are so cute!"

"Our dad built those." Will smiled proudly.

"I met your sister Fiona inside. She seems very nice. And I know your parents are Hallie and Bill, Right?"

"Well," Daniel began again. He wondered if Will had explained the recent revelation in his family to his girlfriend. He considered correcting the girl about his own parentage when Will gave a slight shake of the head to deter him._ Yeah, I guess that would be too confusing to discuss right now._

"Yes, that's right." The older Regan boy stated quickly. "And some people in our family just call our dad Regan instead of Bill. Don't ask me why, because I still don't get it. They just do."

"Okay, so your parents are Hallie and Bill Regan, sometimes known as Hallie and Regan Regan."

The three young people laughed.

"You catch on fast!" Daniel smiled.

"So, I know you guys consider the Wheelers to be your grandparents, but they aren't really your dad's parents, and I met your grandfather who you always say is a serious grouch…is he your mom's father?"

"Yes," Will answered. "Granddaddy is what mom calls 'colorful.'"

"He's just downright mean!" Daniel laughed again. "We don't remember much about our grandmother, but I do know that he was a lot nicer when she was alive. She kept him in line."

"And what about your dad's real parents. Are they here, too?" Candace asked shyly.

"No, they died when Dad was just a baby. He grew up in an orphanage with his sister, who is also gone now. That's why the Wheelers kind of accepted him into their family." Will looked down at his hands as he talked about his father's sad lack of blood relatives.

"Well, they seem extremely nice. I like them a lot. They were good to me when I came to see you the other day." Candace slipped her hand in Will's and he forgot all about being sad.

"Yep, Grammie and Poppa are the best." Daniel agreed. "So, where were we? You know our parents and grandparents well enough. Aunts and uncles next, I guess. Let's start with Granddaddy's side. The Beldens. And there are a bunch of them. You probably met Uncle Peter and Aunt Helen, right?"

"Is she the one in the kitchen with the really funny old apron? The lady that looks like what you think Betty Crocker should be like?"

"That's Aunt Helen! She's really our great aunt. And boy, can she cook like Betty Crocker, too."

"Is she your grandfather's sister?"

"No. Sister-in-law. Uncle Peter is Granddaddy's brother, and Granddaddy's name is Harold, by the way. They have another brother and sister, but don't worry, you won't meet them today."

"Okay. So which Beldens belong to your Aunt Helen and Uncle Peter?"

"Their children are Brian, Mart, Trixie and Bobby." Daniel said. He noticed the light go on in Candace's head. "I know what you're thinking, and yes, Bobby is the gamekeeper on the Wheeler's preserve. He and his wife Isabella are really, really smart. Scary smart. They don't act like most people. Kind of odd, actually. The little four year old girl that looks like Shirly Temple is their daughter, Angelica."

"Okay, yes, I know him. I met him that day when I visited Will at the stables. But I didn't think he was too odd. Kind of cute, actually, for an older guy – he had that Steve Irwin look going on."

"Hey!" Will said, pretending to be jealous. Candace squeezed his hand and put her head on his shoulder for a moment to mollify him.

"Then, you must already know Mart, too, huh?" Daniel asked.

"Well, no, why?" Candace seemed confused.

"Usually, they are together out in the preserve or working in their research greenhouse – I just figured if you met one, then you may have met the other. Mart's a doctor of earth sciences, and he owns some spinach farms around town. His wife is Diana and their daughters are the identical twins with the beauty marks on their cheeks. They're about my age."

"Oh, the twins I remember from inside. They're really pretty. Diana I don't recall, but I did hear someone call a dark-haired man 'Doc.' Could that have been Mart?"

"No, not if he had dark hair - that's Brian Belden. He's Mart and Bobby's oldest brother. He's a doctor at Sleepyside Regional Hospital; works in the geriatric department with older patients." Will said.

"Mart looks more like a taller, older version of Bobby, " Daniel interjected. " Kind of blondish, brown hair. If you'd met him, you wouldn't forget him. He's really funny and uses a lot of big words."

"Sounds like a fun person to get to know." Candace said smiling. "I think I have a grip on Mart and Bobby. Tell me more about Doc Brian. Does he have a family?"

"Yes, his wife Honey, who is the Wheeler's daughter, by the way, was the one who took the brownies from you in the kitchen. She asked you about your necklace," Will reminded Candace. What he said suddenly struck Daniel as odd.

"You brought brownies?" He asked her, intrigued.

"My mom always taught me to never join a party empty-handed." Candace said with a warm smile.

"Oh, I like her!" Daniel said honestly to his brother. Will beamed at his girlfriend proudly and turned back to Daniel.

"Yeah, she's kind of growing on me, too."

"Hey, what are you all doing out there?" Came a boy's voice from the direction of the house. The three young people under the trees turned to see Nick Belden slowly advancing toward them. He was a slight looking youth with toffee colored hair and big brown eyes. He was staring at Candace warily and moved toward them as if he wasn't sure he wanted to. "Everybody wondered where you were, Daniel."

"Oh Nick, come sit down and help us tell Candace about our family," Daniel said cheerfully. We were just talking to her about your mom and dad." He had always felt close to his cousin Nick and understood that the boy was extremely shy around new people. Daniel hoped he would relax and like Candace, too.

Nick came closer to them and gave a timid smile as he sat down on Daniel's bench across from where Will and Candace were sitting. He glanced from person to person nervously, and when it was obvious that he wasn't going to speak up first, Will took it upon himself to make the introductions.

"Candace, this is our cousin Nick. Nick, this is my girlfriend Candace."

"It's nice to meet you Nick," Candace said.

"Nice to…to meet you too." Nick stuttered.

"Well, I know you all are actually like second cousins or something, right?" Candace asked Nick, uncertainly. "I get that Will's mom and your dad are first cousins." Candace pointed first at Will and then at Nick.

"That's it." Daniel answered for Nick. "Brian and Honey have three kids: Matt, Maddie, and Nick…"

"I'm the youngest," Nick interrupted and then seemed to shrink back in fear at realizing how rude that must have been. "I..I'm fourteen." His voice died away and he looked down at the ground.

"I'm the youngest in my family, too." Candace said encouragingly. Nick lifted his head and smiled back at her. _Good! He's gonna chill out and be casual, now. _

Daniel continued on with the lesson he was giving on the Belden family tree.

"Yes, Nick's the youngest. His sister Maddie is fifteen and Matt just turned eighteen. He's a senior this year at Ten Oaks. We play football together…well… we did.." Daniel suddenly felt down thinking about not being able to get back on the field. As a sophomore, it was his first year making the varsity team, and the season had really only just begun.

"And I'm sure you'll be right back out there playing again by the time you're a senior." It was Will's turn to be encouraging. He gave his brother a nod. It made Daniel feel good to know that Will believed in him, even though he knew the young man never really cared much for team sports.

"So, what do your brother and sister look like, Nick?" Candace asked, trying to give Daniel a moment to collect himself. "Maybe I met them inside during my whirlwind tour through the house."

"Um…Matt is kind of…I don't know… he's…we don't really look alike." Nick wasn't a very articulate boy.

"Matt looks kind of like Will, only shorter and stockier." Daniel supplied. "And you wouldn't have seen Maddie. She's beyond shy and hates to be around large crowds. She was probably upstairs keeping Emmie and Angelica occupied. If you met Honey, you have a good idea what Maddie looks like."

"Matt doesn't look like me." Will scrunched up his face in a confused stare at his younger brother. "What are you talking about?"

"Yes he does." Nick said. "His hair is not as dark as yours, but he looks just like you in the face."

"Dude, you never noticed?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"I guess not." Will laughed to himself.

"Hmmm. So, where were we? Brian, Mart, Bobby – Oh, I have to tell you about Trixie's family." Daniel laughed at the thought of his wild and crazy cousin Trixie. She was a lot of fun, like Mart. "Trixie married the Wheeler's adopted son Jim Frayne. So, she's not really a Belden anymore."

"But, she sure does act like one, still!" Nick was really starting to come out of his shell, now.

"Yeah, Trixie's funny. She and Mart are like twins; they look and act a lot alike. I think there's a year's difference. Anyway, if you came through the kitchen, you most likely didn't see her, because she hates to cook." Dan said laughing.

"And she's the daughter of the Betty Crocker lady, your Aunt Helen?"

"Yeah, ironic, huh?" Will laughed. "But she's smart, though. She's a consultant for the detectives at the local police department because she can solve mysteries pretty well. And she helps Jim run Ten Oaks."

"That's why the name Frayne sounded familiar. I know who he is. My cousin Lisa went to Ten Oaks." Candace said.

"No kidding? Small world." Will smiled at her.

"Do Jim and Trixie have children?" Candace asked.

"Their daughter Katie just graduated from some little private college in Texas, so she isn't here, today." Nick stated, now gaining in confidence. "She's like twenty two or something like that."

"And since they couldn't have any more kids after Katie, they adopted Emily from the children's home they run there near the academy." Daniel was happy to tell about his special little cousin. He loved the way she adored him. "Emmie is autistic. She's ten, but she doesn't really act that old. Maddie and I are the only people she gets close to, besides her parents."

"That's kind of sad," Candace said softly, "Um…why couldn't Trixie and Jim have any more children after Katie?"

"You know, I don't think I know the answer to that…" Daniel looked at his brother and then at Nick. None of them seemed to know the answer, either.

"Seems sad," Candace said again.

"Uncle Cap and Aunt Sue couldn't ever have kids, either." Daniel said.

"Now, who are they?"

"Cap is our mom's older brother, and Sue's his wife. He's the one you said looked like an Indian with bad hair." Will teased.

"Oh yeah, I remember talking to him. He said they lived in Idaho. They sure came a long way."

"Mom and Uncle Cap also have another older brother named Knut, but he's a writer and a hermit; we almost never see him." Daniel explained. "He never married or anything. Seems really weird, if you want to know the truth.

"He lives in Idaho, too." Will added.

"Hmmm. I think that's everyone!" Daniel said triumphantly. "I can't think of anyone else you may have met inside."

"Hope you took notes," Will teased, "There's a test later."

"Whew! And I would surely fail it, too!" Candace laughed.


	20. Believe me, I know how u feel

Present Day: Fiona's POV

"You know, you don't have to stand there staring out the window at them. You could go out and join them yourself." Bobby Belden sidled up to his little cousin Fiona Regan and mimicked her gaze as she stood at the picture window of the Sleepy R Ranch's great room. Fiona could sense that he had been watching her earlier, but she was too enthralled with her view that she didn't turn to speak to him.

"I met her when they were in here a little while ago. I just wondered if Daniel was okay." Fiona now said, quietly. She had been watching her brothers Daniel and Will talking in the yard with Will's new girlfriend Candace. They seemed to be getting along, and Daniel was now laughing, so Fiona wasn't concerned anymore about why he might have wheeled himself out there.

"He likes to sit by those trees, huh?" Bobby asked as the two of them simultaneously turned away from the window and sat down on one of the sectional sofas in the room.

"Yeah, I think it was always a fun place for picnics when we were little. Dad made us all benches to sit on and everything. I guess maybe he has another reason now for thinking it's special. I mean, now that he knows about his relation to Dan." Fiona tried to hide her personal frustration with the secret her parents had been keeping, but it surfaced obviously in her voice when she made her last statement. She could tell Bobby caught it, too.

"Honestly, Fiona, what do you think about that? Do you have a problem with it?" Bobby didn't seem surprised at Fiona's behavior, so the young girl felt comfortable sharing her true thoughts.

"I guess…I don't have…so much a problem with it…as…I…I think it was kind of…unnecessary."

"Wow. That's not the word I would have expected you to use."

Fiona thought about her response for a moment and knew in her heart that she had chosen the exact word for how she felt. She didn't want to change it.

"Um…well…you asked and I told you…honestly." She decided she should go and help her mother in the kitchen, anything to stop this conversation. She rose from her seat, but Bobby caught her arm.

"Fiona, I'd like to talk about this…please."

Fiona felt a slight rise of anger inside, and it scared her. She never would have considered herself to be a hot-head like her father, but Bobby's request to talk had suddenly ignited something that may have been smoldering within her for a while. She made herself take a deep breath before responding, out of respect for the adult speaking to her.

"I…don't think…there's really much to talk about." Fiona sat back down on the opposite end of the sofa from the older man. _Please don't push the issue_, Fiona begged silently. _I just got comfortable with all of this._ "I love my family the same as I did before I found out, and they all still love me. Whether or not I completely get it is not that big of a deal. There's nothing more to say."

"So, you admit that you don't understand why they did it?" Bobby seemed hurt.

_ Oh, just stop it already! What do you want from me! I wasn't there, so I can't understand why he was so great! Can't you just drop it?_

Fiona had closed her eyes and was rubbing the side of her head in a frustrated manner, trying not to shout at her cousin. She respected the man too much to vent her teenage angst on him. She suddenly realized that her gesture was a motion her father often made when he was thinking or trying hard to speak nicely and not blow up. It made her give a snicker at herself.

"Your dad does that." Bobby stated the obvious, and the two of them let a burst of laughter overtake the tension that was mounting. When the potential screamfest from Fiona had been avoided, Bobby locked his blue eyes on her blackberry ones and said gently, "I know someone else who did that, too."

"Let me guess, Dan?"

"You feel like he's invaded your family and changed everything you thought you understood to be true, am I right?"

Fiona should have known Bobby was a mind reader as well as a genius. She thought her cousin Diana was the only one who could tell what someone else was thinking. Now, Bobby does it, too. _Sheesh, a person doesn't stand a chance in this family._

"Bobby, I don't mean any disrespect – I see how much my parents, and you, loved him – but, yeah, that's exactly how I feel. And, I … I feel bad thinking like that, too. Dad talked about how much Dan suffered and how hard he fought to live. I can't stand to see my parents get sad about the whole thing. But I didn't know him, and I don't understand why if they love each other and were happy together…why did they have to…I mean, just…why?"

"Do you want to know why I knew how you were feeling?" Bobby asked . Fiona was confused that he seemed to be changing the subject.

"Um, sure…"

"Because that is exactly how I felt when Dan died and I suddenly realized that your mom and dad were falling for each other. I felt like Regan had invaded Dan's life and everything I knew to be true about the world around me was in question."

Fiona couldn't breathe for a minute.

"What? You didn't want my dad to marry mom?" She knew her mom and Bobby were cousins, but she thought the age difference and the fact that her mother grew up in another state would have kept the two from being very close. This seemed odd to her. Bobby would have been a little boy when her parents got together, why would he have even cared?

"Why did you have a problem with it? Because dad's like eight years older than mom?" Fiona asked, her chest tightening.

"Well…that felt weird, too, but really because Hallie was Dan's girlfriend and your father was his uncle. It seemed like the ultimate betrayal to me."

Fiona's anger was kindled once again.

"My parents didn't betray anyone, except maybe Daniel!"

She started to leave, when her cousin Lydia entered the room and began pulling her back to the picture window where she had been standing earlier.

"Fiona! Come look! I am so proud of Nick. He's out there chatting away with the boys and Will's new girlfriend and - he looks completely comfortable! Maybe there's hope for Maddie coming out of her shell, too. What do you think about Candace? She's really pretty. I could totally see her married to Will."

Fiona forced herself to smile at Lydia and agree. "Yes, I do like her. I think he must be getting pretty serious about her if he would bring her around our mixed up family." She glared at Bobby over Lydia's shoulder as she made the last statement.

Lydia was immediately sensitive to the tension between her family members.

"Yeah…well…I thought it was neat about Nick…not being afraid…to…um…you know…talk to someone new. What's going on?" Lydia looked from Fiona to Bobby and back to Fiona again.

Fiona wasn't too sure how much Lydia's parents had explained to her and her twin about Dan being Daniel's father, or if Mart and Di's daughters had been told anything at all. She didn't even know where to start to explain her recent argument with Bobby if Lydia had been told, so she decided to try and cover up the whole thing.

"We were just arguing about …about…" Fiona couldn't even think of a good subject.

"Lydia," Bobby began, "Did your parents ever tell you anything…um…new…about their friend Dan? Since Daniel got hurt?"

_Great, Bob, let's just involve everyone in this messed up conversation!_ Fiona was not happy.

Despite being so young, Lydia was intuitive enough, like her mother, to understand exactly what Bobby was talking about.

"This is about Dan being Daniel's father, isn't it?" She asked softly.

"No, this is about Bobby thinking my father stole Dan's girlfriend!" Fiona sidestepped her cousin and stormed past Bobby toward the back door. She wanted to run as far away from everyone as she could get.

Without even thinking about the group of young people seated under the weeping willows or the possibility of being followed, Fiona ran blindly from the house toward the main barn. She wanted to get her favorite horse and ride out to the far meadow, but Bobby caught up to her by the time she was halfway to her destination.

"Fiona, stop!" He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry."

"It's fine. Forget it. Just leave me alone!" Fiona was about to run again when she heard Will's voice.

"Hey, what's going on?" Will suddenly appeared beside Fiona and a panting Lydia stumbled into the circle from behind Bobby.

"I…I hurt Fiona's feelings, and I didn't mean to…" Bobby confessed, turning to Will.

"No. Forget it. I just want to be alone." Fiona had to get away before the real tears started. She glanced behind Will and saw that Nick and Candace were working to help Daniel as he was frantically trying to wheel himself over to them. A look of concern overshadowed his face. _Great!_

"Fiona, you…you didn't let me finish what I was trying to tell you." Bobby said gently, but Fiona didn't care anymore about his views of her parents' relationship. She wanted to be alone.

"Fiona? What's wrong?" Daniel's voice made her stop. _No, please, let's don't do this here._

"I'm fine. I just want to go. I…"

As Daniel reached the group standing around his sister, he looked up at her and took her hand in his.

"Fi…?"

"Just stop, okay? I'm sorry. I just don't want to talk right now! Please!"

Everyone stood and stared at her in shock at her outbursts. This wasn't like Fiona. She was always so relaxed and laid back. The dark haired girl was losing control and choking back huge sobs rising in her throat. As she dropped Daniel's hand and turned to continue toward the barn, Will grabbed her and pulled her to him; she finally gave up. She clutched her brother and let every emotion she had felt over the course of the week spill out with her tears.

"Oh, Fiona. It's okay." Lydia said softly. "I'm sure Bobby wasn't trying to hurt your feelings."

"What did you say to her?" Fiona could feel Will's body tense up angrily as he asked the question over her head.

"I…"

Fiona could hear Bobby sigh behind her.

"I think maybe we should all go over to the willow trees and talk for a minute."


	21. Not lost, but found

Present Day: Bobby's POV

"Okay, guys…what do you mean by 'adult' conversation? My dad _is_ a doctor, you know. If you're gonna talk about how Fiona's just being hormonal ...well, that's no big mystery. My sister's her age, and I _have_ been given 'the talk.'" Fourteen year old Nick Belden was pleading his case to his uncle and cousins, trying to persuade them to let him stay and participate in the conversation they said would possibly be too adult for him.

"It's complicated," Will Regan said cautiously, as the others were getting comfortable on the wooden benches below the willow trees. "Candace and I were just heading back inside, too. We'll go with you." He gave his girlfriend a nod and she seemed to understand what to do.

"Yeah, Nick," Candace took up her boyfriend's cause, "Let's go back inside. I want to find out if Daniel's right about your brother Matt. Does he really look like Will?" She seemed to know that Will would explain everything later. Bobby Belden gave the young lady a really good look for the first time and was proud of his younger cousin for finding such a great match for himself.

To Bobby's relief, his nephew Nick finally gave in and allowed Will and Candace to walk with him back to the party. He knew Nick was probably old enough to understand what they were going to discuss, but he didn't think the boy was emotionally mature enough. He also knew that his brother Brian had not told Nick anything about Dan Mangan being Daniel's biological father. It was just too complicated for him to have to start at the beginning and explain right now; besides, he needed to repair the damage he had done when he'd upset Will's sister, Fiona.

Fiona Regan was sitting on the bench with her name carved on it, and she was clutching her cousin Lydia's hand. The two fifteen year old girls had a special friendship, and Bobby thought it was good that Lydia had stayed. Her presence seemed to be keeping Fiona calm. His niece already had an idea of what Bobby and Fiona had argued about, so Bobby was grateful that he didn't have to catch her up to speed.

Bobby turned to Fiona's brother Daniel. He was fidgeting nervously in his wheelchair and waiting anxiously for someone to explain to him why his sister had burst from the house in tears.

"Daniel, I didn't mean to upset everyone. Fiona, I'm sorry. I was just trying to explain how much I understood what you were feeling."

Fiona refused to look up from the grass beneath her feet. She just sniffed and bit her lip. Bobby felt as low as dirt.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked quietly. He seemed to want to encourage Bobby to continue the conversation he and Fiona had begun inside.

"I was telling Fiona how…when Dan died…I felt like everything I had ever known was…almost…like a lie. Like…someone should have told me that…I don't know. I felt…betrayed."

"And then you said our parents betrayed Dan." Fiona looked up with hurt in her eyes.

"No, I said that I had once felt that way, but you didn't let me finish with the rest of my point." Bobby said quickly, defending himself.

"You…you didn't like our parents getting together?" Daniel sounded as wounded as Fiona.

"I was just a kid and I didn't understand. What I was trying to say was…well, Fiona, I know you feel that way about Dan…like he almost doesn't have a right to suddenly be Daniel's father…"

"I…I didn't say that…" Fiona stammered. "I just don't understand why my parents thought it was important to…I mean, I thought they were complete enough without having to…never mind."

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, processing thoughts and feelings and trying to make sense of what was being said, until Lydia quietly took over as mediator.

"Fiona, are you mad because…maybe…you do feel the way he said…like you were lied to and you almost don't want Dan to be Daniel's father?" She looked at her cousin seated beside her and looked searchingly into her face.

"I..guess."

"Daniel, how do you feel?" Lydia asked softly.

"I'm surprised, right now. I …well…I thought Fiona was okay with it. She said she was…"

"I _am _okay with it, Daniel. I mean…I'm okay with _you_. And nothing's changed with us… our family… you're still my brother…this doesn't change who you are."

"But it does." Daniel said thoughtfully, as if it was the first time he understood the truth of his statement. Bobby interrupted them.

"Daniel, you are special and loved, and Fiona, so are you. Don't let this make either of you forget that." Bobby didn't know how to do this the right way. _Uggghh! How do I make them understand!_ He felt himself getting frustrated.

"Uncle Bobby, you said Fiona didn't let you finish what you wanted to say. Why don't you say it now?" Lydia asked calmly. She would make an excellent counselor one day. Bobby was amazed at the maturity of Mart's daughter.

"I wanted to say that it's perfectly okay for you to feel this way. It's okay for you to be angry. It's okay if you feel betrayed. You didn't know him the way we did, and it must be so frightening to think about this stranger being such a big part of your family. It doesn't make you love Daniel any less if you question it." Bobby closed his eyes and tried to say everything his heart wanted to release out to Daniel and Fiona at this moment.

"Fiona, I wanted you to see that I had been there once too. I had questions I couldn't answer. I was running away from everyone and everything and I just didn't want to face it. And when I finally got over the shock and hurt, I saw that I wasn't lied to, I was just protected. Protected from things I wasn't old enough to understand. When I stopped feeling guilty about not understanding, I realized that I wasn't selfish for wanting people to leave me alone and let me be sad. When I finally saw the perfect love your parents shared, and I knew that it was stronger than anything Hallie ever had with Dan, I realized that Regan didn't betray him, he did the best thing a man can do for another man after he's gone: take care of those he loved."

Bobby opened his eyes and saw that Fiona and Lydia were looking down at the grass with watery faces and peaceful smiles playing at their lips. _I think they understand. It's going to be okay. She's going to forgive me._

He turned his head to look at Daniel, but he panicked when he didn't see the boy beside him.

While Bobby had been speaking, Daniel had wheeled himself closer to the willow tree his parents had planted in memorial to his father and he was now leaning with his head against the trunk. His eyes were closed and silent tears were streaming down his face.

"Oh, Daniel, I didn't mean to…" Bobby again felt as if he had said the wrong thing.

"No, Bobby, you don't understand." Daniel whispered without opening his eyes. "I'm not crying for me. I'm crying for you."

The older man felt his chest tighten and he swallowed hard at the boy's remarks.

"I…I didn't lose Dan, like you did." Daniel now opened his eyes and gave his cousin a loving smile. "In fact, I haven't lost him at all."

"I…I've found him."

_Later that night, in Daniel's room: Daniel's POV_

"Mom, can you go get Dad?" Daniel asked as his mother, as she turned from helping her son climb from his wheelchair into his bed.

"What's wrong?" Hallie Regan asked, quickly. "Are you in pain?" Daniel could tell that she misunderstood his remarks, and he had to laugh at her jumpy state.

"No, you worrywart, I just want to talk to the both of you about something."

"Oh. Okay. I'll…I'll go get him." Hallie cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes.

"It's nothing bad. Come on, don't look at me that way. Good grief! I just have some more questions about…you know... about Dan."

"No problem." Hallie laughed thankfully and exhaled the breath she had been holding as she began to understand what her son wanted to discuss.

Daniel could feel her relief, and he shook his head.

"You'd think I was going to say I'd join the circus or something crazy like that."

Halllie stopped at the door and threw her head back in a laugh. "For you, that would be crazy."

Daniel smiled to himself as he watched his mother leave and he thought about what she had meant. Once, as a small child, his mom and dad had taken him and his siblings to see a circus, and Daniel was terrified of everything the entire time. He had cried nonstop, and whenever his older brother Will had wanted to scare him after that, he would say, "Hey Daniel, don't ya wanna go back to the circus?"

_Yeah, I guess that would be crazy._

After a while, his mom returned with her husband and the two settled down on either side of him. Daniel knew what he wanted to ask them, but suddenly, seeing Regan's questioning gaze, he was feeling shy. _How do I do this without hurting him?_

"Um… I know you said I could ask anything, and you would tell me, right?"

"Anything at all, son." Bill Regan said gently.

"What were his last words?" Daniel came straight out with first one he could think of.

Immediately, he regretted it.

Pain flashed across Regan's face, and the older man stood up and paced away from Daniel quietly. The boy suddenly remembered once having been told that Regan wasn't there the moment Dan died. He kicked himself mentally as Hallie coughed nervously and took over answering the question herself.

"Well, it wasn't what he said…actually." She took Daniel's hand in hers and thought for a moment before she spoke. "Daniel, he…had been unresponsive most of that afternoon, and so he didn't say anything before he… but earlier that day…while he was still alert…he did something." She stopped and looked over at her husband. Daniel could see the silent way she was reaching out to him and comforting him. He felt guilty for doing this.

Regan seemed to have regained himself and he came close again to sit in the chair beside Daniel. "I remember that." He whispered to Hallie.

Daniel looked from one to the other and then asked the obvious question, "So, what did he do?"

"Well," Hallie's voice was soft as she spoke. "We were pretty much sitting just like this, and I was holding Dan's hand, like I'm holding yours. And…he…" The tears were starting to come quietly now and spilling down her cheek.

Daniel didn't want to do this, anymore. He suddenly felt like an invader in his mother's memories.

"He put my hand on his heart, like this…" Hallie moved her hand to her son's chest and smiled up at him sweetly. "Then, he took your dad's hand…"

Regan took Daniel's hand in his, and it made Daniel feel like a small child again.

"He put my hand on his heart, too." Regan said quietly. He put his large hand on Daniel's chest beside Hallie's. "And then…he…he put our hands together." Regan intertwined his fingers with those of his wife.

"And then he put his hands over yours, right?" Daniel asked quietly. He understood what this was all about. _Wow!_ Daniel thought,_ He gave them to each other._

"Yes," Hallie whispered. The three of them sat there for a minute with all of their hands clasped together over Daniel's heart, and the boy felt the love flow into him and through him.

"We…we just didn't see how perfect his idea was…until years later…" Hallie said with a laugh.

The special moment passed and everyone reclaimed his or her hands. Dan could still feel the warmth of their touch on his skin, even through his shirt.

_This is what Bobby learned too late. _Daniel thought. _This is what Fiona should understand._

"I get it." Daniel said reaching out and giving their hands a pat again.

When emotions had died down again, Daniel asked another question.

"How did he say goodbye to Mart?"

"Dan wasn't big on goodbye." Regan said gently. "He always said, 'later.'"

"Is that what he told Mart?"

"Something like that, I'm sure. They had time together the day before Dan passed, and I guess their discussion was their personal business, because Mart never told any of us what was said. Perhaps, that's as it should be." Daniel loved the way Regan just let some things be. He decided that would be his approach to this whole thing, too. Just love and let it be.

"How did he say goodbye to Bobby?" Daniel asked, after a few minutes.

Hallie and Regan gave each other a special smile.

"Apparently, Dan left him notes and special objects hidden away in secret locations. I think it was a sort of treasure hunt." Hallie said with a laugh.

"I wish he had really taken the time to read some of the messages more carefully, though." Regan mused quietly. "I had to help Dan write some of them when he got so sick that he couldn't hold a pen, and they should have helped Bobby deal with things a lot better than he has. Maybe he didn't find all of them."

"Do you think he'd be upset if I asked him about them?" Daniel wondered out loud.

"Couldn't hurt." Hallie tried to sound bright.

_I don't know, you didn't see how lost he looked today, _Daniel thought.

"Anything else you want to know?" Regan seemed ready for this conversation to end.

"Naa, it's getting late. I'm sure I'll have more questions later. Man, am I glad to be back home in my own bed tonight!" Daniel started getting comfortable to go to sleep as his mom moved the chair she had been sitting in back in its original place under his desk, and his dad leaned down to brush a quick kiss into his hair.

"I love you," Regan whispered at the door.

"Love you, too, Dad," Daniel didn't even hesitate at the word 'Dad.' Dan was now a very special and important part of him, but Regan would always be his dad. He felt happy at the thought and watched Regan disappear into the hall.

As Hallie came forward and kissed him, too, Daniel tapped her wrist gently before she could turn away.

"Mom?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, dear?"

"When did you know you loved Dad more than Dan?"

Hallie looked horrified at the idea, and she slowly sank down on the edge of her son's bed, looking at him in disbelief.

"Do you love your dad more than you love me? Or Will more than Fiona?" She asked.

"That's different. Don't tell me you don't love one more than the other. I mean, you should love Dad more, right?"

"There are different kinds of love, Daniel, and they can all be of equal value."

"But you were romantically in love with him, weren't you?"

"As much as I could be at that age, yes."

"Then, when did your feelings change?"

"They, didn't exactly change. Look… it's complicated. We need to save this conversation for another day."

"Why?"

"Because, there's something I would need to show you, first."

"Sounds, mysterious." Daniel said secretively.

"Oh no, now you sound like my cousin Trixie. Are you all good in here for the night, dear? Do you want some water or anything before I go down?"

"Don't try to change the subject with me, Missy!" Daniel teased his mother. "I'm curious about what you have to show me. What is it? Is it the place where you had your first kiss? Huh? "

Hallie laughed, pulled away from the bed, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You'll see, nosey. It's late, now. Go to sleep."

"I love you, Daniel." Hallie said at the door, smiling in.

"Love ya, Mom."

"Later…" Hallie laughed and stepped out into the hall.


	22. Look up

_**This chapter takes place several months after Daniel's accident – he's out of the wheelchair and strong enough to use crutches.**_

_**Daniel's POV**_

"Bobby? Bob, honey, are you still out there?" Isabella Belden cried out to her husband from inside their cabin home. She came to the door with a telephone cradled between her ear and her shoulder and was leading her four year old daughter to the front porch.

"I'm here, whatcha need?" Bobby moved from where he had been standing at the porch railing and held the door open for his daughter to bounce through happily.

From where he was seated on the front steps, sixteen year old Daniel Mangan Regan could see the crazy attire of his little cousin, and it made him laugh. Her sparkly, pink princess shirt seemed out of place being paired with khaki cargo pants and green Little Mermaid rain boots. With a self-satisfied air, she cheerfully smiled at Daniel and flopped down on the step beside him.

"I'm sorry, dear, I have an important call with the firm in Tokyo; can you watch Angelica for a little while? It won't take but a minute." Isabella said it all in a rush to her husband, as she juggled the phone and fumbled with the door to keep it from slamming closed on her.

"No problem." Bobby gave her his customary wave of the hand. He turned apologetically to Daniel. "She's a brilliant architect, but she can't chew gum and walk at the same time. The whole world has to stop when she's on one of these calls, or she won't get a thing done."

"I heard that!" Isabella cried back over her shoulder as the door closed on her retreating form.

Everyone on the porch laughed together.

"So, Jelly Bean," Daniel said, poking the little girl beside him, "What've you been up to today?"

"Huntin' tigers with Ernie."

"She has a serious fascination with Sesame Street, right now." Bobby explained.

"Oh, hey, I remember that 'Tiger Hunt' book. It was one of my favorites, too." He began quoting from the story and making the hand motions his parents taught him and his siblings when they were small. _"We're going on a tiger hunt, are ya ready? Let's go!"_

Angelica giggled and Daniel wiggled his fingers at the little girl, threatening to tickle her. She pretended to be afraid and then stopped all movement when her gaze fell on Daniel's leg, now tightly braced within a strange sort of boot. She put her tiny hand out and felt of it shyly.

"S'that still hurt?" She asked wide eyed.

"Naa! It's my spaceboot." Daniel teased. It was what he had been telling another cousin, Emily Frayne, to keep her from being afraid of it.

"No s'not!" Emily said with a giggle. "You got trappeded in a metal trap. I know you…you're not a spaceman, Daniel."

Bobby and Daniel looked at each other and laughed together again.

"You can't fool her!" Bobby said, shaking his head. "She's a smart one, that's for sure."

"For sure!" Angelica echoed. She bobbed her golden girls up and down and crossed her chubby little arms across her stomach. Then, she grinned up at the teenager beside her and surprised him with a question of her own.

"What've _you_ been up to t 'day?"

"Your Daddy and I are going hunting, too. Only, we're not looking for tigers."

"Poachers?" Angelica asked. Being the daughter of a gamekeeper, she understood that word all too well.

"No, baby, this is something more like a treasure hunt." Bobby said with a laugh. He pulled his compass from the breast pocket of his vest and kneeled down behind her to hold the object out in front of her face where she could see it. "I've shown you this, before, huh?"

"Oooh, your special compass. Like a pirate! You gonna play Dora pirate and find the treasure? I wanna come!"

"Um…it's not exactly like the show where Dora was a pirate, and it might take us into the woods, so… maybe you should stay here when your mother gets off the phone…" Bobby was trying to find a delicate way to ditch his daughter, and Daniel suddenly felt sorry for her.

"Hey, Jelly Bean, I have an idea." Daniel interrupted. "Why don't you let us find _this_ treasure, and I'll take you and Emmie on a Dora pirate adventure next week when we meet at Crabapple Farm to pick apples. Sound like fun?"

At first, Angelica didn't appear to be taking the bait, but then, as if she was remembering something, the little girl's face changed and she started nodding her head once again.

"Okay, that sounds like fun. I 'member the man said it would be hard for you to find the water treasure, anyway." Her statement was so matter-of-fact, that Daniel had to stop and think it over in his head again to make sure he had heard her correctly. _What was she talking about?_

"Water treasure? Sweetie, no one said anything about water, and who is this man?" Bobby followed the little girl as she hopped up from her seat and skipped over to the porch swing and clambered aboard it.

"The man with the funny hair. One who cut wood for us."

Bobby looked from Daniel to his daughter and began to grow nervous about this revelation that a stranger had been on his property and talked to his child without him knowing.

" 'Gelica, _I_ cut our wood. What are you talking about? Why is his hair funny?"

"It gots sunshine stuck in it. Like Jesus. But he didn't have no holes in his wrists."

Daniel watched as Bobby's face went pale. He didn't know if it was because the little girl knew who Jesus was; Bobby was known to be a staunch atheist, or if it was because Angelica's comments made it seem like she had been talking with a ghost. Either way, the boy immediately felt the air being squeezed from his lungs and he feared the older man was going to pass out.

"Where did you see him?" Bobby breathed.

"I tole you! He cut our wood!" The little girl continued tossing her upper body backwards and forwards to keep the large swing rocking as she pointed a tiny finger across the yard to indicate the area around the wood pile and chopping block.

"You…you know you aren't supposed to speak to strangers." Bobby stammered, sitting down beside her and casting an odd glance back at Daniel.

"Well…he talked to _me_. I thought he was Daniel, but then I saw he wasn't. Looked like Daniel."

_It couldn't be. Could it?_

Daniel felt his mouth go dry. He didn't believe in ghosts. Dan was in Heaven. He knew it in his soul. Why would he appear to Angelica?

Bobby seemed to be fighting hysteria and his daughter was picking up on his tense mood.

"Daddy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to talk to him. He didn't stay long. Promise. A old man came and talkeded to him and they went away. Are you mad at me?"

"No, no, I'm not mad."

"Did the old man have funny hair, too?" Daniel asked. He limped up off the step and crutched his way toward them on the porch.

"I dunno. Couldn't see his hair. He had a cap like Poppa's. It had stripes and covers on his ears."

"Plaid, baby. Poppa's winter cap is plaid, not striped, but I know what you mean." Bobby gave Daniel a sober look.

_Was that supposed to be Mr. Maypenny?_

"What all did the first man say to you?" Bobby asked.

"He said, you had a hard time finding a treasure…" Angelica scrunched up her face as she worked hard to remember. "…something on the water…and…and… you should remember to look up!"

"Remember to look up?" Bobby said cryptically.

_Wow!_ Daniel thought,

_Dan sure knows how to send the right message!_


	23. Consider why, not how second chances

Warning: This chapter is very heavy with Christianity – not open-minded enough?, don't read ;-}

Sometimes, there are moments in our lives which make us question what we know to be true.

And because what we know to be true makes us who we are, these periods of doubt can test us to the core. How we respond to them, shows the world what we are really made of.

For Daniel Mangan Regan, these moments in life had always been met head on with the faith he had been raised in. He had come to a saving knowledge of Jesus at a sleep-away camp when he was nine, and had grown up in a loving, Christian home. He always felt secure in his beliefs.

But, as he listened to the words of little Angelica Belden describing her encounter with his dead father, Daniel began to ask himself a frightening question: What if everything I've ever believed about death, and life after death, are wrong?

His mind reeled.

_If being absent with the body is being present with Christ in Heaven, how could Dan come back to give Bobby's daughter a message?_

He tried to remember every supernatural encounter he'd ever read in the Bible. The angels, the demons, the times Jesus appeared as different people and then revealed himself to his disciples. He could not think of one ghost story like this, where a human revisited earth from Heaven.

He finally understood what Bobby meant that day when he told Fiona that he had felt lied to.

He understood why Bobby had questioned and mistrusted everything.

He understood why Bobby had felt betrayed.

The world seemed to be a foreign place, and Daniel felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach.

And then, suddenly, as if the Holy Spirit Himself had bent down and whispered into Daniel's ear, the story he was searching for in his brain immediately surfaced in his memory.

_Don't forget the transfiguration._

Yes, that was it! In that moment, when Jesus was praying on the mountain, Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with him. They had encouraged him and then returned to heaven.

_Even Jesus got a supernatural pep talk when he needed it most! _

Grounded once again, Daniel felt his heart swell within him. He was grateful for the realization. He was speechless at the thought of what this all meant. He felt a spiritual connection with Dan unlike anything he'd ever known before.

But, standing there, looking at Bobby, pacing on the porch and shaking his head after Isabella came and claimed Angelica, Daniel knew he was all alone in his understanding of Dan's visit.

"I…I know what this is!" Bobby said suddenly. "I read about it once in a National Geographic article…talking about places with extremely high…um…extremely high levels of electrical or magnetic properties. See, there are sort of…energies…no…images…yes….images that can be recorded in these places…like a video…and replayed. Dan and Mr. Maypenny's images were…recorded in nature…years ago…and were replayed…you know…over and over…like a glitch in space and time…and …well, children are more susceptible to this sort of thing…so…Angelica saw it being replayed…"

"Bobby," Daniel started with a sigh, "I don't think…"

"Yes! Yes, that has to be it. Or, no…maybe it's her subconscious memory…piecing together what she has unknowingly overheard us discussing about Dan and…and…it's like crib speech…"

"Crib speech?"

"Yes, it's a… language phenomenon…usually seen in infants who are…who are first learning to speak. You see…they listen as adults around them have conversations, and their subconscious memories are recording the words and sounds… and the children repeat them over again… aloud… as they lie in their cribs at night. You know… crib speech." Bobby stopped pacing back and forth and held up his hands as if Daniel should know exactly what he was talking about.

Daniel let out another sigh and just shook his head.

Despite his scientific brilliance, Bobby simply didn't, and maybe couldn't, understand what Daniel had just learned to be true in his heart. The irony of the situation made the boy's stomach knot in frustration. He decided not to try to force his spiritual epiphany on Bobby, but rather, began to take a different approach.

"Maybe we shouldn't be trying to figure out _how_ this happened, but _why_ it happened," he said quietly.

Bobby looked up at the teen's words and he narrowed his eyes at him with mistrust.

"What? You…you honestly believe Angelica saw Dan's…what?…ghost? And that he's …he's still trying to help me find this thing he left for me?"

"I think he's trying to help you find a whole lot more than that." Daniel said, half under his breath.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment and Bobby looked to Daniel to be a half a breath away from giving up and 'running away' from all of this again. But to his amazement, the older man took a deep breath, closed the space between them, and sat down slowly beside Daniel on the swing.

"Daniel, it just doesn't make any sense." Bobby whispered.

"It doesn't have to." Daniel knew that firsthand. His own birth didn't make sense.

"So, I'll remember to 'look up.' What does that...mean, anyway? Is he talking literally? Is he talking about the power of positive thinking? Is this about God? Really, Daniel, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I…I don't even think I _want_ to do this, anymore. I don't think I _can_." Bobby looked about as vulnerable as Daniel had ever seen an adult look, and it scared him.

_What do I do now? I'm just a kid. I don't have all the answers._

Daniel thought back to a few months ago when his leg was caught in the steel trap and he was afraid he was going to bleed to death before anyone found him. It was _his_ most vulnerable moment, so he decided to share his thoughts on that with Bobby.

"Bobby, when I was out there in the preserve, and I thought I might die…I had never prayed so hard in my entire life. That was the worst pain I could ever have imagined. For over three hours, I begged God to help me…you…you have no idea how bad it hurt."

Guilt and shame flashed in Bobby's eyes; he stared down at the boot on Daniel's healing leg.

"I'm so sorry, I knew something was wrong when you didn't report back here after your patrol shift…I didn't waste time starting the search…I swear…I wasn't going to stop 'til we found you…"

"It's alright," Daniel stopped him, "that's not why I'm telling you this. I know it's not your fault. But, you have to understand that I could have given up and gone to sleep…and it would have all been over pretty easy."

Bobby gasped. It was obvious to Daniel that no one had considered just how hard he'd fought to stay awake and alive. He'd chosen to suffer so he could survive.

"It made me realize so many things, and all I wanted was to see my family again…to tell them that I loved them. I make sure I tell them every single day, now. I even call Will everyday and tell him, too." Daniel silently began to pray for divine intervention in this conversation. He knew the next point he wanted to make needed to be received and taken to heart.

_God, help me say this the right way._

"Bobby, I told God that if he let me live, I would do whatever He wanted me to do and _be_ whatever he wanted me to be. And believe me, it's been hard. He's already asked me to be a completely different person than I was before…with a completely different father…no hopes for a football scholarship in the future…totally dependent on others to get around. It's been tough."

He looked at Bobby and tried to ignore the sound of his heart pounding nervously in his chest.

"But, I got a second chance, and I'm not about to blow it." He put his hand on Bobby's shoulder.

"**Bobby, you're getting a second chance, too." **


	24. Don't make the same mistake

Bobby Belden was already physically and emotionally exhausted, but his journey was only just beginning.

In the last hour since Daniel had arrived to help him find the final cache in Dan's treasure hunt, he had been on a roller coaster of emotions and revelations. He had questioned his family, his beliefs, and even his own sanity.

Yet, he knew he had to press on and not give up. He was too close to finding peace.

_Daniel's right. I've been given a second chance. I can't blow it._

He shared with Daniel as much as he could remember about the papers he had torn up in anger all those years ago; however, the only concrete information he had about the starting location was that it was somewhere on the front porch of the cabin. How many times had he stood on that porch and tried to figure out where to go from there? He began to wonder if this time would be any different.

"So, you don't remember what book and chapter Dan referenced from the Bible?" Daniel asked him.

"No, I don't remember the names or the numbers. That's the problem."

"And you say you flubbed it and walked into the lake when you were trying to do the projection?" Daniel asked again.

"Yes. I thought I did what I was supposed to do, but it led me too deep – maybe now that I'm taller…" Bobby began to imagine that maybe Dan had wanted Bobby to grow up a bit before finding this last message, so perhaps he should go back into the water again as an adult. He might be able to stand up all the way to the end of the first projection and be able to turn and make the next. "Do you think I should try to find the place where I ended up last?"

"Hmmm. It couldn't hurt." Daniel said brightly. He laughed at himself when he realized that his mother's words had come out of his mouth.

"What's so funny?" Bobby asked.

"Mom had said the same thing when I asked her if I should talk to you about this treasure hunt."

"I'm…surprised she knew about it." Bobby said, feeling jealous that Dan had told someone else about his special gift to him.

"And I was surprised when you came to me about it before I even had a chance to ask you."

Bobby was glad that Daniel didn't see his face at that moment, because he knew it would betray his childishness. He turned away and reminded himself that this was one of the reasons why he didn't have the information he needed to complete this game. He had let selfish emotions get the best of him.

The blond squared his shoulders and decided he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

"Well, let's get going, then." He pulled out his compass and headed toward the lake.

Recreating his original projection as best as he could, Bobby tried to discover exactly where he had been on the bank before he went into the water. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Daniel, Angelica said something about the treasure being 'on' the water. Do you think we're supposed to do this in a boat?"

"But, I thought you said walking into the lake was a mistake."

"I…I'm not sure if it was or not." Bobby admitted. He thought about what Dan had tried to explain to him long ago about trusting the compass, or not needing it, or thinking he was wrong when he was actually right, or was it the other way around? – he couldn't remember exactly.

"This isn't getting us anywhere, huh?" Daniel asked, quickly getting discouraged. "Forget the compass, the numbers, and the projections. Let's go back to the letter you found in the cache before the last one. What clues did it have?"

"Well, it ended up with some thoughts on the storms we face in life, and then…Dan wrote something really weird about my dad." Bobby remembered that line well because he had always thought it strange for Dan to have addressed Peter Belden by his first name the way he did.

"What did he write?" Daniel asked.

"The last line of the message said, 'But, don't make the same mistake as Peter.'"

"Oh my gosh, Bobby, are you kidding me? I don't think he was talking about Uncle Peter! He was talking about Peter in the Bible! Didn't you read the verses he gave you? They probably had something to do with Peter and Jesus walking on the water during the storm."

Once again, Bobby felt childish in front of this boy.

"I was a lot younger than you, Daniel, and all those 'thee's and thou's' were too hard for me. I tried to read some of the verses, believe me, I tried; but I didn't get them. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just call Dan up and ask him what it meant!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Dan shook his head and smiled. "Yeah…we're gonna need that boat after all."

_Later_…_While Bobby and Daniel are out on the lake…_

Bobby paddled backwards to stop the small fishing boat from continuing on its current course and did his best to hold the vessel steady so that he could decide if its placement was putting the two men at the location necessary for the next projection. He was feeling oddly angry at the way Daniel was quickly deciphering Dan's clues. _Why couldn't I have done that?_ Again, he had to put his green-eyed monster in check for the sake of the hunt.

"Alright, so this is about where you think you were supposed to stop walking?" Daniel asked.

"If I did the projection right." Bobby struggled to keep the boat still.

"Well, I guess we should follow Dan's advice and look up." Daniel said with a smile.

But neither of them saw anything out of the ordinary when they gazed up above them.

"It's been over twenty years, Daniel." Bobby breathed. "The whole landscape has changed. I…I don't know what we thought we would see..."

"Wait! What was it he said about Peter?"

"Just, that I shouldn't make the same mistake he made. What did he mean by that?"

"Hmmm. I wonder. Did he mean, don't be like Peter who stepped out into the storm? Or…did he mean, don't be like Peter who doubted and began to sink?"

"I…I don't know."

Bobby could see the wheels turning in Daniel's mind, and he knew he would never be able to keep up with him if he didn't know the whole story of Peter walking on the water. He swallowed his pride and asked.

"Will you just…tell me the story? I might be able to figure out the clue if I know what the deal is with Peter doubting and sinking and so on and so forth." Bobby waved the air in a manner that Daniel was quite accustomed to seeing from his cousin and it made the teen give a laugh.

"Yes sir, Professor. Well, the story begins with the disciples going fishing and Jesus being left on shore. There's a big storm…Jesus shows up walking on the waves…Peter is amazed and wants to go to him, so he gets out of the boat and gives it a try…his faith is strong and he's crossing the water, having a good time…then…he looks away from Jesus and starts to focus on the storm. That's when he starts to sink…Jesus saves him, of course."

"Of course." Bobby couldn't stop himself from responding cynically to the last remark.

"What do you think? What are you not supposed to do that Peter did?"

Bobby suddenly felt his oar hit something in the water and he jolted at the impact.

"Woah, what was that?"

Both of them looked over the side of the boat and tried to locate the source of the contact, while Bobby continued his battle to keep the boat in one place. He felt his oar hit the solid object again.

"There's something almost right below us." Bobby said with curiosity. "I can't…quite see anything in this dingy water, but…" He ventured out with the paddle to test for more objects and was shocked to find another solid something just a little ways off from the first item he hit.

"Can you see better if you stand up?" Daniel asked.

"Okay, I'll try it, but if I fall in and get tangled in something…the lake drops off right here pretty suddenly and I don't think you could swim with that boot on…" Bobby said it with a joking tone, but he knew the reality of his statement was actually not all that amusing.

"Then, don't risk it." Daniel said seriously.

"No, I think maybe you're on to something. I'll just stand a bit and see…" Bobby carefully lifted himself up off his seat and peered over the edge of the boat while Daniel threw up a protective hand in case it was needed.

Bobby balanced himself, looked down, and was completely amazed to discover a series of old dock pylons submerged beneath the surface of the water.

"Wow! I didn't know that was there!"

"What is it?" Daniel could see the wonder in Bobby's eyes.

"I think I know how I'm supposed to walk on water." Bobby grinned at the boy and started to shift his weight as if he was about to step out of the boat, but Dan stopped him.

"Come on, man, stop playing around! Sit down. You're making me nervous," Daniel ended his outburst with a slight laugh, hoping Bobby was kidding around with him.

"No, seriously, there are pieces of an old dock down there." Bobby responded. With careful movements, he slipped his leg up and over the edge of the boat to step out onto the first pylon. He was grateful for the waterproof boots on his feet, as his toes and instep were instantly covered over with the cold, dirty water. He followed suit with his other foot and was soon straddling two different supports.

"Now, what?" Daniel asked in a nervous voice.

Bobby carefully took out his compass and realized that he needed to move out away from the boat a little more if he was going to be in the position he thought the original coordinates had indicated. He stepped to another pylon, and then another, and stopped to check the compass again. _This is it!_ He thought. And then he knew the answer to Daniel's question.

"What now, you may ask?"

He looked at Daniel with a grin and raised his eyebrows.

"Now…I take Dan's advice…and look up."


	25. Left up a tree

Bobby looked up from his perch in the lake and instantly discovered what his friend had intended for him to see. The years of growth in the tops of the trees on the other side had done a lot to distort the original configurations of the large logging nails embedded in them, but the general idea of the intended shapes were still intact enough for Bobby to recognize them.

They were arrows. Nails driven in trees to form arrows.

And they were pointing to the location at the end of the next projection; the location of the final cache.

Bobby felt the rise of his emotions threaten to send him splashing into the water beneath him.

"Daniel, you…you won't believe this! I see arrows! You can't see them from where you are, you'd have to be out and up here, but…wow…how in the world did he get up there as sick as he was?" Bobby pointed excitedly across the lake as Daniel paddled closer.

"I…guess you just had to keep your eyes up…that's what Peter did wrong…he was looking at the trouble around him instead of looking up…you did it…you figured it out!"

Bobby gently made his way back into the boat and began to help Daniel row.

"We've got to get to the other side and to the top of _that_ tree – over _there._" He pointed to their destination. "Hurry! I don't want to have to stop looking in an hour when it'll be too dark."

"Whew! You're a slave driver. Chill out! We'll make it. We'll make it." Daniel was laughing at the giddy and impatient man seated across from him.

After what seemed to be a hundred years to them, the two made their way to the far side of the lake and to the base of the tree Bobby had been pointing to.

"There's a metal deer stand up there." Bobby said, fighting tears, now. "It probably hasn't been used since I was a baby…but…I don't have a clue how Dan could have possibly gotten up there to hide…"

The older man closed his eyes and bit back many different emotions while Daniel patted him gently on the shoulder and swallowed his own tears. Bobby was instantly thankful he'd included the boy in this. He was so much like his father, and this was as it should be.

"Daniel, I must have walked under this thing a million times over the years, and I never would have thought…" Again, he was too overcome to finish his thought for a minute. "I was so close…"

"None of that matters, now." Daniel said, soothingly. "It's alright. Go get it. He's waiting."

Bobby reached up and carefully scaled the logging nails which were driven deeply into the sides of the tree to act as a makeshift ladder. The distance between them was too short for much comfort, and Bobby realized that Dan must have moved them from their original places to accommodate the stride of a much younger person.

_He thought of everything._ Bobby had to fight harder to keep from breaking down.

He choked down the lump in his throat and worked feverishly to reach the top quickly. As his head raised high enough to see the floor of the metal hunting stand, the man's heart plummeted with panic. _There's nothing here!_ He thought in horror. Bobby felt the air go out of his lungs.

Yet, in that frightening moment, the fading sun sent a small ray of light that instantly caught upon an object carefully bound underneath the metal flooring with twisted copper wire, and Bobby's eyes just happened to snap to it at the moment its presence was made known by the golden beam. It wasn't over. The treasure was, indeed, still there!

_There it is! I've found it! Dan, I finally found it! Thank God!_

And Bobby was surprised to discover in his heart that he meant it. He did thank God.

With shaking hands, he reached out and began extricating the little metal box from its location under the deer stand.

"Bob? You okay up there?" Daniel's concerned voice drifted up from below.

"I'm fine! I'm more than fine! I found it!"

"Thank God!" Daniel echoed Bobby's thoughts, and Bobby burst out with sputters of tears and laughter at his response. He stopped fighting it and allowed himself to weep openly during his jittery climb back down the tree.

When he finally reached the last few nails, he practically jumped down from above and landed hard in front of Daniel. The boy caught him up in an emotional embrace and the hunt…was over.

"I…I'm so happy for you." Daniel said gently into Bobby's shoulder.

They stood there, exhausted and emotional, for a long moment before either of them moved to end the hug or say anything at all. Finally, in a voice husky with feeling, Bobby spoke.

"It's getting dark. Let's take this back to the greenhouse and look at it there."

Daniel agreed. They needed a quiet place where they could take their time with this.

After the mind numbing wait through travel back to the cabin, and after creating a diversion for the females in Bobby's household, the two cousins were finally free to open the special little container and explore the final thoughts Dan wanted to share with Bobby.

"I'm so shaky, I can't get it open!" Bobby said with a laugh. He fumbled with the locking seal around the lid of the metal box and took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"It's alright," Daniel said kindly, "just take your time."

The dark haired boy reached out and assisted the gamekeeper in opening the lid.

A letter on yellowed paper, still preserved in a plastic bag, was lifted from the container and placed on the countertop in front of the youth.

"Daniel," Bobby said quietly, "I would like it very much if you would…read it to me. I want you to know what it says just as much as I want to read it, and that would be a quick way to accomplish both at the same time.

"Are…are you sure you wouldn't rather read it once in private, for yourself? Daniel asked politely.

"No. I want to share this with you. I know it's what Dan would want."

Daniel was too overcome to respond to that, so he simply nodded and took a minute to collect himself, while unfolding the faded paper and preparing to read.

In that moment, Bobby couldn't believe how much the resemblance between Dan and his son arrested his senses and began playing tricks on him. It was as if Dan himself had returned and was sitting across from him, speaking in his own special voice the words that were falling from Daniel's lips as he read:

_"Dear Bobby…"_

_**The End**_

_**For now…**_

_**Be on the lookout for the sequel: Love is the answer (has the answers to the questions)**_

_**And Maybe you'll get to read all of Dan's letters to Bobby in another story: The Hunt**_

_**(Or…maybe…I'll just leave you hanging…**_


End file.
